Adoption of \u3ci\u3eBrachiaria\u3c/i\u3e Grasses in Mexico and Central America: A Successful Story

In Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) there has been a major effort to develop new pastures technologies, to increase livestock productivity for the extensive systems prevailing in the tropical lowlands. This multi-national and inter-institutional effort was initiated through the International Network for the Evaluation of Tropical Pastures (RIEPT, by its name in Spanish), which operated from 1976 to 1996 under CIAT leadership. This network became a platform for institutions to train technicians, share forage material from existing gene banks, study the behaviour of new germplasm under different environments, and established the exchange of scientific information to extrapolate research results (Toledo, 1982). Six hundred and forty five agronomists from 24 countries in LAC were trained by RIEPT, in subjects related to forage agronomy and pasture evaluation. Training was key for the success of RIEPT, because these professionals carried out evaluations of new and improved forages under contrasting ecosystems and provided feedback. In addition, during this period participating institutions in RIEPT released 11 selected grasses as commercial cultivars, most of them from the Brachiaria genus, as well as 16 forage legume cultivars (CIAT, 2003). In Central America and Mexico these cultivars were released between 1990 and 1996. Forage evaluation activities in this region continues at present through a joint research agenda between CIAT and ILRI, as well as between CIAT and the private seed sector. Of all pasture cultivars released; grasses from the Brachiaria genus currently dominate the market – accounting for approximately 84% of all grass seed sales in Mexico and Honduras, 90% in Nicaragua, 85% in Costa Rica, and 97% in Panama during the last 5 years (Holmann et al., 2004). The objective of this paper is to estimate the impact of the adoption of Brachiaria grasses released through RIEPT during the period 1990-2003 on milk and beef production and to describe how this was achieved