the Symposium on Wheats for More Tropical Environments - cimmyt

39If Bol1via does not radically change itsfood consumption patterns, <strong>the</strong> countrywill have to put a great deal of effortinto <strong>the</strong> cultivation of wheat innontraditional areas, now considered asmarginal for wheat. These areas offermany advantages; land and water isavailable, climatic conditions areadequate for growing wheat andagronomic resources are available. Also.<strong>the</strong> land system lends itself to wheatcultivation.According to precipitacion regimes.<strong>the</strong>se nontraditional areas can bedivided into two regions:• Chaco region:400 to 800 mm of rainfall perannum10 to 150 mm dUring <strong>the</strong> seasonfor irrigated wheat• Nor<strong>the</strong>rn Santa Cruz region:800 to 1.700 mm of rainfall perannum200 to 450 mm dUring <strong>the</strong> seasonfor rainfed wheatIrrigation is projected for <strong>the</strong> Chaco. buthas been delayed due to <strong>the</strong> high initialinvestment necessary. Two big schemescould irrigate 150,000 hectares withsurface water. A ground-waterirrigation system currently is underdevelopment for 15,000 hectares, andan additional 2,ooo-hectare system isalso being considered for <strong>the</strong> ratnfedarea north of Santa Cruz. Irrigationcombined with available technologywould assure an average yield of 2 t1hafor <strong>the</strong> Chaco region. By 1988, it maybe feasible to grow 5000 hectares ofirrigated wheat in <strong>the</strong> Chaco.Planning for <strong>the</strong> nor<strong>the</strong>rn Santa Cruzregion includes <strong>the</strong> promotion of agradual increase in wheat area. It wouldbe grown as a winter crop, mainly onmedium to large-size farms. The fiveyeargoal for this region is 28,000hectares, with a yield of 1 to 2 Uha by1988.Bol1via expects to be prodUcing 80,000tons of wheat by 1990. with apossibtlity of reaching 120,000 tons.These amounts represent, respectively,17 and 26% of <strong>the</strong> estimated wheatdemand for that year (470,000 tons).ConclusionsHopefully, Bolivia can change its foodconsumption patterns to satisfy a largerpart of its carbohydrate needs through<strong>the</strong> use of foods more appropriate to itsenvironmental conditions, i.e., yucca,maize, potato and rice. In <strong>the</strong> longterm, wheat production w1ll principallybe carried out in <strong>the</strong> nontraditionalareas, <strong>the</strong> tropical and subtropicallowlands in <strong>the</strong> east. Therefore,research work on wheat for <strong>the</strong>senontraditional areas is of greatestimportance. Tables 3 to 6 summarizewheat research being conducted at <strong>the</strong>Coronel A. Gomez Experiment Stationin <strong>the</strong> Chaco region.