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crossed to 250 elite varietal collections; moreover
three diallel sets of varietal crosses have
been developed among the best available materials
from the Central and South American
and Caribbean regions. These comprehensive,
newly developed populations will be tested
for their yield potential in trials at the Sids and
Gemiza experiment stations.
Development of two experiment stations for
maize research: The Ministry of Agriculture
has allocated about 50 acres of experimental
land at each of the stations, Sids and Gemiza.
These locations will form the main centers for
maize research and land and laboratory facilities
are being developed.
Winter nursery: A very successful winter
nursery was grown for the first time in UAR
in November, 1968, and a second nursery was
planted in November 1969. These plantings
have demonstrated that it is possible to obtain
two generations of maize per year: one
during normal planting in June and the second,
as an off-season winter planting in early
November which will greatly speed up the
breeding work.
Seed stores: Insect, rat proof an airconditioned
seed stores have been developed
at Sids, Gemiza and Giza stations. Seed increases
of different maize germ plasms will be
indexed, catalogued and stored for future use
in the breeding and other projects.
Project 2: Soil and water management for
maximum maize production
Field studies were made to determine the
chemical fertilization, water management, land
preparation and planting practices most useful
for the production of high yields, following the
winter crops of wheat, beans and Egyptian
clover. With the available soil and water resources
and practically unlimited supply of
solar energy, yields of about 8 to 10 tons per
hectare should be obtained, once superior
varieties are available.
Reshaping and levelling of maize land: In
order to successfully implement the soil fertility
and management experiments, the operation
of the experimental land had to be mechanized
so as to give precise control over the
different agronomic practices. Agricultural
machinery suc" as tractors, plows, harrows,
land leveller, ditcher, ridger, etc., now have
been obtained. Levelling and grading of the
drainage system is in progress at Sids. The
land and the development of on irrigation and
experimental area was reshaped at Sids and
Gemiza previous to the current crop season.
Maximum Productivity Demonstrations
The Maize Committee of the Ministf}' of
Agriculture, which the CIMMYT specialist assists,
drew up a package of recommended
practices from available research data for implementation
on about 50 thousand acres in
Sharkia province. The results were spectacular;
overall maize production was 50 percent
greater than neighboring areas in which the
project was not implemented. More demonstrations
are planned for next year on a smaller
scale at more sites and at experiment stations
across the maize growing areas.
CENTRAL AMERICA
AND THE CARIBBEAN
The Central American Cooperative Food
Crops Program (PCCMCA), began its work
in corn production in 1954 in Central America,
it now works With sorghums, beans and rice,
as well, and has expanded to include the
Caribbean area. Each year the cooperating
workers meet to discuss the year's work and
plan for future joint efforts. Basically, the aim
of the meeting is to interchange ideas, information
and materials.
Uniform variety trials are conducted by
PCCMCA in two regular series: (1) commercial
varieties and hybrids and (2) experimental materials.
In addition, studies on plant populations,
fertilizer treatments, insect control, and
other phases of corn production, are encouraged
in the several countries. Efforts to extend
the use of improved seed and cultural
practices are emphasized, and results are
reported at the annual meetings.
Even though accurate, up-ta-date statistics
are not available, production of both maize
and sorghum is being accelerated in spite of
the many deterrent factors. Most of the recommended
varieties of corn and sorghum
forming the main basis for this growth have
evolved from the PCCMCA program. These
varieties now are distributed commercially in
the area by both private and governmental
agencies.
It is generally agreed that the level of technology
in Central America is probably better
than available statistics would indicate. Poor
communications, high fertilizer prices, unstable
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