Genetic resistance of maize to insects and diseases in tropical environments of South America

Based on the expert knowledge on biotic stresses with economic effects on corn production in South American countries, it was resolved that to solve these problems, base populations should be developed, with white and yellow endosperm, with genetic resistance to the identified pests and diseases. A program of recurrent selection of S1s was followed, generating lines that were planted in different localities with high incidence of the identified stresses.

With the information generated in the different localities, we started to obtain the base populations by selecting the best S1 families from each nursery, which were recombined to form synthetics resistant to each of the different stresses. The F1 seed was advanced to F2 using a mixture of seed from each of the different synthetics. The F2 seed from the different synthetics developed in the different years was included in agronomic trials in different locations. C2 or C3 breeding cycles were generated from 10 white or yellow base populations in addition to 466 synthetics with resistance to different health problems. The increased seed production and the future release of resistant varieties by the consortium's breeding programs will allow increasing maize yields in regions with endemic health problems.