March 2020

Welcome to the March edition of our information exchange platform.  This month we will report on our trip to Nicaragua to assist with a high quality corn program, GEI strip testing, importance of hybrid selection for dry-down, and also updates on the status of our winter seed  productions. Missed last month's E-Newsletter? Catch up in the  News section  of our website

GEI Update

During this time of crisis, farming must go on. We have been receiving seed, sending out seed and preparing to receive seed from winter production in South America. Before the Coronavirus was even thought about, we scheduled a trip to Nicaragua with Self-Help International to assess and assist with the local non-profit that has a seed program with QPM, high quality protein corn, for small farmers there. Nicaragua has the Pacific Ocean on the west and the Caribbean Sea on the east.  To the south is Costa Rica and to the north is Honduras.  The country also has a humongous lake totaling more than 3,000 square miles (plus volcanoes!).

Lake Nicaragua

We were there during the dry season.  We were amazed by the very nice new highways and bridges. When we went to the Pacific coast, we found good restaurants and beautiful empty beaches.

Pacific coast, Leon, Nicaragua

San Juan del Sur

The same was found when we went south and looked across the bay to Costa Rica. We took a boat ride down the San Juan river where there is a land reserve and local agricultural populations.  We visited a historic fort with a colorful history of fighting off British pirates, who wanted to raid gold shipments going to Spain.

San Juan River

Rice fields

On the way to the southern part of Nicaragua we saw vast fields of rice growing, in all stages of growth. The rice fields were totally mechanized with huge combines and large planters.  Rice is eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner!  We found that land can be rented for $125 per “manzana” (1.7 acres) per growing season.  Sugar cane was also growing.  They also grow peanuts and beans.   The local non-profit operates primarily in the southern part of the country.  This area includes agricultural land not well developed because of topography that does not favor mechanization, low rainfall, and minimal agricultural infrastructure and capital investment.  The non-profit purposefully chose this area to give support where it is needed most.

Small farmer production

Corn was drying on the stalks in fields. The next planting of corn will be in May when the rains start. White corn is the staple food of the daily diet along with rice and beans.  The average family goes through about 25 pounds of white corn per week. This is why it is important that the corn has the QPM (quality protein maize) trait.  Normal corn protein is deficient in the essential amino acids lysine and tryptophan. A new corn mutant endosperm trait, named opaque-2 having a complete panel of amino acids was discovered in 1963. This new trait was bred into regular corn. The QPM corn carries opaque-2 gene original trait plus modifier genes to maintain the hard texture of the grain.  Selection for hard grain texture tends to lower the protein quality but maintains the biological value of the protein in this corn. A QPM variety developed by CIMMYT in Mexico was adopted by SHI to advance a program of improving the nutrition of local communities. Farmers trained by agronomists of SHI produce certified seed for sale to farmers in the area.

Shelling corn

The average subsistence farmer doesn’t have tools for planting.  A pointed stick is used to make a hole to drop the seeds. Harvesting is done by hand.  Shelling is hard work without a sheller.  We found a man shelling his corn with a stick. He loads a wide-holed net like a hammock with about a bushel of corn.  He then beats the corn with a stick and lets the shelled corn fall onto a tarp.  This wouldn’t be possible unless the corn was very hard and flinty.  The non-profit has made great strides in introducing new agronomic practices, improved yields and introduction of new biofortified varieties of field beans. Seed producers have been outfitted with mechanical shellers and seed is conditioned, bagged and tagged at the government seed plant.

QPM white corn

Biofortified beans

QPM corn and biofortified beans with iron

Strip Testing

We would like to invite interested farmers to participate in a strip testing project of conventional or organic hybrids on their farms. Strip testing is an on-farm test planting of samples of a set of corn hybrids in strips of a given number of rows and length depending on the type of planters used. This testing gives the participant the opportunity to see how a hybrid performs under specific farm conditions and agronomic practices used at the farm.  A set of hybrids can be compared in a test and data can be collected to determine relative hybrid performance.  Seed companies usually conduct these tests after multi-location trials have been completed in the hybrid adaptation areas. Planting: A seed sample of 20 M of seed of each hybrid will be provided by GEI free of charge. Farmer will provide seed of the hybrid currently used at the farm as a check hybrid. Mark a uniform plot of 20 feet across the planted rows to collect the data on each hybrid.

Data to Be Collected

Cooperator Agronomic information of the field (previous crop, fertilizer and herbicide application) Planting date  50% flowering date (date when 50 % of the plants are shedding pollen in at least ½ of the tassel) Hybrid general notes or comments about each hybrid. Seed Company, GEI Harvest Stand count (Number of plants/acre) Yield, weigh wagon or other Yield report

Hybrids for Strip Test

Northern Iowa Conventional and Organic for 2021 GEI 9010 Organic RM 105 GEI 9700 untreated RM 105 Central Iowa GEI 9700 treated RM 108 GEI 1050 untreated RM 112 GEI 1060 untreated RM 112 Locations : 2-3 per maturity zone Planting rate: 34,000 seeds/acre For yield, earliness and good dry down, select GEI 9700 and GEI 9010 ORG

Importance of Hybrid Dry-Down

Planting time is again around the corner.  We are dealing with very unusual circumstances and an uncertain season with the threat of infection with Covid-19 virus. It is going to take more preparation and planning for farming this year.  Last year’s weather pattern was very abnormal to say the least.  Because of the excessive amount of rainfall at the end of the season and the early frost in October, hybrids took a long time to dry and harvest extended beyond the month of normal harvest in October.  Late planted hybrids ended up with high moisture at harvest.  This added more costs for drying and discounts at the elevator.  Hybrids have different dry-down characteristics. Hybrid dry-down of a group of hybrids planted in the same field is calculated by the following formula: Dry-down = (% Moist at harvest: Average % Moist of all hybrids) x 100 Calculation: Dry down GEI 9700 = (15.3:17.0)100                    GEI 9700=93%  Interpretations: GEI 9700 had 15.3% moisture at harvest GEI 9700 had 7% less moisture at harvest than all the other hybrids in the test in 2019 Interpretations: GEI 9010 ORG had 15.6 % moisture at harvest GEI 9010 ORG had 9% less moisture at harvest than the other hybrids in the test in 2019 GEI 9700 and GEI 9010 ORG are early hybrids with good dry-down. Both hybrids have higher yield than expected for their maturity (GEI 9700 =120%, GEI 9010 =114%) Example 2019 season planting date May 16  Harvest October 28 Early hybrid group Hybrid           % Moisture at harvest   Moist% of mean of test Yield/Moist GEI 9700              15.3%                                  93%                                 120% GEI 9010 ORG     15.6%                                  91%                                 114% Test Average       17.0%                                 100%                               100%

GEI 9700 planted April 16, 2019

GEI 9700

Winter Seed Production

Our winter season activities in South America are progressing.  We have been in contact with our producers and they have reported that GEI 5121C, our new blue corn hybrid, has been harvested this week and GEI 2312, the high carotenoid corn hybrid, will be harvested the week of March 23.  Part of the winter breeding nursery has been harvested. We expect all the seed to be shipped early in April. The seed should arrive to our location by the end of April, still in good time for distribution to our customers. This has been a challenging year with unexpected disturbances and natural threats coming from evolutionary forces.  We live in the world of biology and we are active participants.   The seed of GEI 9887 lys was received this week and it is already totally committed. We are making plans for a larger production for this coming year. The utilization of this high-quality protein is increasing primarily for making highly nutritious foods and snacks both domestically and overseas consumption. We are also collaborating in the evaluation of two of our high lysine hybrids for silage in early maturity zones. We will be testing our new high lysine blue corn hybrid this summer and producing grain for evaluating the grain in  masa  and snack foods. The combination of high-quality protein and the high anthocyanin content makes this corn a double stack of nutrition for undernourished children and younger adults. New single size packaging would contribute to a much wider distribution of these highly nutritious corns. Popcorn: We have commercial seed of GEI 201POP (flake) and GEI 202 M (mushroom) available.  We will have commercial size bags with 50 lb. for commercial grain producers and small size bags of seed for strip production of grain for local markets or for home consumption.

CONTACT US

(515) 865-8834