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Recovering bean production in the Valley of Zapotitán: the "Granary" of San salvador

by Dr. Francisco Morales. February 2002

January 31st, 2002
by Dr. F.J. Morales

After being considered the "granary" of the capital and surrounding cities of El Salvador, the Valley of Zapotitán had to be converted into a sugarcane production region due to the severe damage caused by the whitefly - transmitted viruses to bean and many horticultural crops, particularly during the dry season (December - April) when whitefly populations peak.

The DFID - funded CG System Wide IPM Project has allowed CENTA and CIAT to show farmers in the valley that is possible to grow beans again in this dry period, thanks to the availability of new Bean golden yellow mosaic virus - resistant lines combining up to three different sources of resistance.

The material in the picture is a line (EAP-9510-77) developed by Juan Carlos Rosas in El Zamorano, Honduras, that combines three of our sources of BGYMV - resistance (various DOR lines and Garrapato) and another source of resistance identified in Dominican Republic.

This line also has the desirable red color of the original "Rojo de Seda" and, thus, farmers like it a lot already. These trials have been established with only one application of imidacloprid in the past and, yet, the virus still caused economic losses in their local bean varieties.