Before speaking about new germoplasm allows me to revise what has been made in the formation of the breeding crosses in

2. Before speaking about new germoplasm allows me to revise what has been made in the formation of the breeding crosses in GEM

3. From 2005 the number of Breeding Crosses and Companies involved have been diminishing and to replace this Mike has made crosses with PVP or GEM release lines. Also the number of release lines have decreased. • Probably the reasons for this are: • Fusion or disappearance of seed companies so there are less of them • Photoperiod effect of the tropical material and in consequence the lack of coincidence of flower time makes it difficult to carry out the crossings • The loss of interest to do these kind of crosses. If this is it. I would ask in what others ways do you consider we need to use for introgression of exotic germplasm. Which of the exotic germplasm are you interested in?

8. SUGGESTED NUMBER OF BREEDING CROSSES PER ACCESSION We saw in the previous tables that in some cases the number of breeding crosses made is quite high and the number of release lines is low. For example in the case of Guatemala where a single accession belongs to one race, it had 13 breeding crosses (25%) and only 7 lines were released. It is also the case of Peru where 3 accessions for one race had 27 breeding crosses and only 6 lines were released. I believe that in the future we should carry out 2 breeding crosses per accession and when some of these have been usefull we can increase the number of breeding crosses.

9. NEW GERMPLASM TO INTROGRESS IN GEM

10. There is a great numnber of germplasm that can be utilized in GEM so in order to select the approriate germplasm we should take into account the following: • Objective of use • Study the genetic difference between germplasms • Give preference to germplasm that has been improved • Establish the heterotic group it belongs to • The environment from where it comes • Study the characteristics and maturity • Plan the appropriate crosses • In the next slides there are several lists of new germplasm to introduce to GEM. I will go quickly so I do not tire you.

16. LINES AND HYBRIDS FROM THAILAND

18. GERMPLASM FROM BRAZIL

19. NEW ACCESSIONS FROM CUBA

20. GERMPLASM FROM CHINA

21. SELECTION OF COMPANY LINES The introgression of tropical and subtropical germplasm depends on several factors that I have mentioned previously, but also very important is the selection of the companies lines to make the breeding crosses of 50% and 25%. The most important part is the selection of the last line to obtain the breeding cross of 25% of exotic material. The ideal thing is that one breeder could carry out the two crossings to arrive to the 50% and 25% in this way better results would be obtained. The examples that I will present indicate this.

23. 99a = LH132, 99e = PHG39, 99j =LH38

24. RECOMMENDATION TO INTROGRESS EXOTIC GERMPLASM Selection of the exotic germplasm Selection of company lines to produce the BC (appropriate relative maturity, good roots, resistant to lodging, etc, these characteristics should communicate to the Coordinator) It is required to make only two Breeding Crosses for each exotic germplasm It would be nice if the companies can make the second cross with another line of the same company to obtain the 25% of BC Since there are many BC it is necessary to study which are the ones to generate and evaluate lines Selected the best tester in the evaluation of the lines

25. In certain aspects of the investigation partnerships between disciplines should be initiated so that they can contribute their ideas. Some of these partnerships could be between molecular genetics, entomologists, plant pathologist and others. These partnerships will allow us to find diverse financial resources. An example of this type of partnership was the LAMP program that carried out the evaluation of the corn accessions. GEM is the ultimate collaboration between public and private entities and the achievements of both LAMP and GEM could not have been achieved without these partnerships.

26. The hybrid parents are selected usually based on their pedigree and the performance of test-cross progenies. However, conducting and evaluating these testcrosses is time-consuming and expensive. Therefore, more convenient molecular marker-based methods to pre-select suitable parental components are highly desirable. Then, the genetic distance of the new germplasm could help identify optimal genotype combinations.

27. I would like to suggest that the collaborators of molecular genetics of GEM would help in selecting the foreign material to integrate by making a study to find out the similarity between them. For example we know that the Caribbean material has been spread around the globe and has notorious performance. So we have Cubano Amarillo (present in Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Central America, Mexico and Peru), Suwan 1 and BR105 that come from a similar background but have been crossed with other material and selected in different environments but may still have similarities due to their ancestors.

28. OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS Although we have the GEM website, where you can view the progress and news regarding GEM , I would advise that we also send out an email bulletin with the latest and most prominent news. It would also be good to establish a constant method of communication with foreign breeders so that they may contribute their ideas on how to use the existent germplasm.

29. COMMUNICATION NETWORK The exchange of germplasm is extremely important but just as important is the exchange of ideas and new techniques that a lot of the investigators are implementing worldwide; let us not forget that we live in an era of globalization. Therefore I suggest, with your help, to make a list of the investigators in order to setup a communication network that will benefit all. Helping each other is how we will achieve success. I will begin this process by offering several names to this list. Since we are all committed to this cause I would urge you, before the end of this meeting, that each one of us submit on paper the names and emails you would like to include on this list.

30. CONTACT PERSONS A.T. Amaral Júnior Cooperativa Central de Pesquisa Agrícola, Setor de Biotecnologia, Cascavel, PR, Brasil amaraljr@uenf.br C. L. De Souza Jr Departamento de Genetica, Escola Superior de Agricultura ‘‘Luiz de Queiroz’’ (ESALQ), Universidade de Sa˜o Paulo (USP), Caixa Postal 83, CEP 13.400-970-Piracicaba Sa˜o Paulo, Brazil clsouza@esalq.usp.br Ms.C. M. Martínez, Investigador y Dr.C. R. Ortiz, Investigador Titular del Departamento de Genética y Mejoramiento Vegetal, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Agrícolas (INCA), gaveta postal 1, San José de las Lajas, La Habana, Cuba, CP 32 700 􀀌mmcruz@inca.edu.cu Cláudio Lopes de Souza Jr.* Depto. de Genética - USP/ESALQ, C.P. 83 - CEP: 13400-970 - Piracicaba, SP. clsouza@esalq.usp.br Pongsai Chuanchai Faculty of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Yunnan Agricultural University, Kunming 650201, China chuanchaip@yahoo.com

31. Alexander J. Hernandez J. Direccion: Postgrado de Agronomia, UCLA. Via Redoma de Agua Viva frente Urbanizacion Terepaima. Cabudare, estado Lara, Apdo. 400, Barquisimeto, Venezuela. ahernandez@ucla.edu.ve Mahuku, George (CIMMYT) G.Mahuku@cgiar.org Atlin, Gary (CIMMYT) G.Atlin@cgiar.org Pixley, Kevin (CIMMYT) k.pixley@cgiar.org

32. RECOMMENDED GERMPLASM FOR DROUGHT TOLERANCE

33. DROUGHT TOLERANCE RECOMMENDATIONS • The selection of germplasm to start this type of project is crucial. Avoiding the selection of material that escapes the lack of water by being early. • Currently there is a project in Africa called the Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA), we should utilize the germplams selected for this project and any of the material obtained from them. • In order to recommend a selection it would be crucial to examine the behavior of the germplasm with and without water limitations. • Recommend and use conventional and advanced techniques, including marker-assisted breeding, as well as genetic engineering to develop hybrids that use water more efficiently.

34. In the following slides I will present several lists of germplasm that would be suited for this type of project.

35. AFRICAN DROUGHT TOLERANT MAIZE

39. COLOMBIAN ACCESIONS FOR DROUGHT TOLERANCE

40. PERUVIAN ACCESSIONS FOR DROUGHT TOLERANCE

41. ARGENTINIAN ACCESSIONS FOR DROUGHT TOLERANCE

42. My goal for this presentation is to provide constructive criticism in order to correct our errors and suggest improvements to the methodology. With the new germplasm that will be introduced, with the effort of all of us and with new ideas and techniques we will be able to realize new achievements in GEM. We now have the beginning of a communication network that will allow us to know what is happening in the world outside of GEM as well as promote the achievements of GEM.

43. Acknowledgements I would like to thank Candy, Mike and Tom for their invitation to be amongst you once again. Also big thank to Matt and Major for your hospitality. I would also like to thank Kevin Pixley, Gary Atlin of CIMMYT for their germplasm recommendations and their exchange of ideas. . I would like to express my congratulations and thanks to the GEM personnel for their dedication, hard work and application of their knowledge without which we would not have achieved the successes we have had. .

44. GRACIAS Y SALUD !!!!! CON CHICHA MORADA