Institute of Agricultural Research

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS UNIT

Introduction

Mission

Objectives

1. To promote INIA's international relations with research centers, universities and international organizations in related research areas.
2. To assist in developing INIA's international competitiveness by coordinating programs and projects resulting from international technical cooperation agreements.
3. To centralize international research carried out by INIA research departments.
4. To promote agreements with international institutions and organizations for the exchange of professionals in areas of common interest.
5. To prospect and assist in securing financing opportunities for projects in partnership with international organizations.
6. To coordinate international cooperation activities jointly with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, other government organizations and diplomatic missions accredited in the country.

International partners

• AAAS (Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences) China
• CABI (Commonwealth Agricultural Bureau International) United Kingdom
• CIMMYT (International Center for Improvement of Corn and Wheat) Mexico
• CIP (International Potato Center) Peru
• CITMA (Science and Technology Center of the Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment) Cuba
• EMBRAPA (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation) Brazil
• FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization) Italy
• ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research) India
• IDIAP (Agricultural and Forestry Research Institute of Panama) Panama
• IICA (Inter American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture) Costa Rica
• INIA (National Institute for Agrarian Technology and Agrofood) Spain
• INIA (National Institute for Forestry and Agricultural Research) Uruguay
• INRA (National Institute for Agricultural Research) France
• INTA (National Institute for Forestry and Agricultural Technology) Argentina
• JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) Japan
• RDA (Rural Development Administration) Korea
• USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) USA

INTERNATIONAL PROJECTS

• INIA-Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United Kingdom
  “Ex Situ Conservation of endemic and threatened species of the desert and Mediterranean region of Chile”
   

INIA is conducting a joint collaboration project supported by Royal Botanic Gardens Kew aimed at collecting and conserving ex situ in seed banks at least 20% of endemic and 60% of endangered plant species from the desert (17º to 30ºS) and Mediterranean (30º to 38ºS) regions of Chile, from 2002 to 2010. This program is part of an international initiative led by RBG Kew aimed at preserving at least 10% of World Flora focused on dryland and semidryland regions. At December 2004, seeds from 255 species had been collected, 211 (83%) are endemic to Chile and 83 threatened in the wild. Examples of collected endemic and threatened species are Leonthochir ovalllei and Daela azurea, restricted to a small fraction of the coastal desert area in northern Chile, Adesmia resinosa and Adesmia balsamica from the coastal range of Chile’s central region and Tecophilaea cyanocrocus, a former extinct geophyte specie from Chile’s central region, which has been recently rediscovered.

• INIA-Swiss Federal Agricultural Office
  “Technological evaluation and transfer of organic, integrated and conventional systems for grapes used for wine production in the Cauquenes area, VII Region”
   

  With the collaboration of other services under the Chilean Ministry of Agriculture (SAG,INDAP, ODEPA) and the Swiss Federal Agricultural Office, INIA has developed a project enabling small and medium-sized farmers in the Cauquenes area (Chile) to produce wine with certified organic grapes, as well as assisting them with securing international certification for their farms which produce organic grapes for the European market and creating an association of small and medium-sized grape farmers under the concept of sustainable farming.

• INIA-Swiss Federal Agricultural Office
  “Introduction and adaptation of organic and integrated systems for producing bovine milk in Chiloe, X Region
   

With the collaboration of FAL in Switzerland, INIA has developed organic and integrated productive systems for bovine livestock used for milk production in southern Chile.  Specifically in the Chiloe region, small farmers hardly use agrochemicals and show great respect for the integrity of plants and animals, thus paving the way for establishing a technological and productive base for future product differentiation of higher added value under the concept of sustainable farming. At present, the second phase for organic and integrated production of cheese has begun, with milk generated in the evaluated farms.

• INIA- McNight Foundation in the United States
  Obtaining Less Insecticide-Dependent Potatoes Through a Type of Broad Spectrum Resistance Mediated by Glandular Trichomes and Leptines
   

The potato tuber moth (PDP) and potato leafminer fly (MMP) are pests that produce significant losses in potato crops, both in Chile and other countries.  The PDP larvae cause great damage to tubers, with an especially high potential to destroy potatoes in storage.   On the other hand, MMP feeds on foliage reducing production to levels by  30-35%. At present, pest control is mainly based on the use of pesticides, hazardous for human health and the environment, and which are also costly.  By developing resistant potato varieties in the context of integrated pest management, there is a possibility of reducing the use of pesticides.  This has motivated the McKnight Foundation of Minneapolis, USA, to address this international initiative, with the participation of INIA (Chile), the Cornell and North Dakota Universities in the USA, and EMBRAPA (Brazil).     Under the auspices of this project, several clones which are highly resistant to potato moth have been selected, among them Q115-6 (see photo) as one of the best, and others of the likes of P161-3 and Q132-1, all of them acceptable for farming, although their white-cream colored skin has led to difficulties in introducing them in the local market.  It is expected that in other markets where the moth is a serious problem, this variety may be more readily accepted.  On the other hand, a potato clone highly resistant to the Potato Leafminer Fly (Q132-53) has been selected, resulting in a white skinned and pulp variety. Resistant material (in Vitro plants and botanical seed) has been sent to Ecuador, Argentina, Colombia, Bolivia, Italy and Nepal. Although these clones may be directly introduced as varieties and become very useful for clean crop farming, and better still for organic farming, the second phase of this project involves their utilization as progenitors for crossbreeding with varieties cultivated in Chile, in order to select local pest-resistant varieties not only fully adapted to farming and environment conditions in Chile, but also to its market.

• INIA- International Cooperation Agency of Japan  (CADEPA)
  Conservation of the environment and rural development with farmer participation in the Mediterranean dryland zone of Chile.
   

Agricultural productivity in the inland dry region of Chile (Regions V to VIII) is underdeveloped because of the deterioration of natural resources in agro-ecological systems. INIA has been working to increase research and extension of technology for restoring degraded land and improving farming conditions for small and medium-scale farmers, devising incentives and loan mechanisms for farmers to improve soils, cover bare land with pasture and build facilities for land preservation. The agricultural development program was established for two selected model micro-scale watersheds with the involvement of farmers in the preparation process. It mainly consists in programs for use of land, implementation process and cultivation and was prepared based on baseline data such us flora, soil, slope as well as on a series of discussions and workshops held with farmers. The number of major techniques improved/developed for soil and water conservation through this project are the following: Technology to estimate the volume of shallow underground water Ground water development by geographical profile studies Water management technique for drip-irrigation system Technology for non-plowing cultivation of wheat and bean Development of no-till animal traction seeding machine Planting technologies by utilizing useful native trees Upon project finalization, enviro-friendly and appropriate technology for soil/water conservation was verified at the model farm and published in a four-topic manual.  These technical guidelines have been well accepted and adopted by farmers.

• INIA-European Union
  “Development of a food quality management system for the control of mycotoxins in cereal production and processing chains in Latin America Southern Cone countries”
   

This Project involves the cereal food chain and Chile specifically chose to study wheat. Mycotoxin contamination of human food and animal feed is a top priority issue due to its impact on human and animal health, as well as the associated economic losses.  Project tasks are to develop methodology and analytical techniques to establish a food quality management system (FQMS) to control mycotoxins in food chains for Southern Cone countries. The Project includes the participation of CIRAD (France), NRI (England) and PROCISUR as coordinator. Its execution is carried out by Argentina (INTA; University of Buenos Aires and University of Lujan); Brazil (EMBRAPA and MAA); Chile (University of Concepcion and INIA) and Uruguay (INIA and LATU). Operational resources were contributed by the European Union (Contract MYCOTOX Project No(3) CA4-2001-10170).  One of the important findings is a socioeconomic study of the wheat chain, from producer to flour sold in markets.  Based on samples analyzed for two farming cycles, the absence of mycotoxins is generally observed in wheat harvesting in Southern Chile, with the exception of an isolated positive occurrence of Fusarium graminearum and mycotoxin DON, thus indicating that mycotoxin contamination may be affecting wheat crops in certain areas in Chile. The absence of wheat mycotoxin contamination in Southern Chile and the management practices presently applied for this cereal have been regarded as a study model to understand the gravity of mycotoxicological problems affecting other countries participating in the project.

• INIA-INRA-Colmar of France
  Differentiation of grapevine and origins of Chilean red wine through molecular markers

The flourishing Chilean wine industry may be faced with important losses if it does not secure a solid technical base, founded on locally-generated data bases.  Also necessary is a genetic identification system to control selected genotype propagation. In this project, two red wine grapevines were studied, namely Cabernet Sauvignon and Carménère, both of great importance for the Chilean winegrowing industry. Microsatellite-type molecular marker systems AFLP and SCAR were identified, capable of differentiating at least 20 different clones in the case of the Cabernet Sauvignon and at least 5 for the Carménère.  This project is carried out with the collaboration of INRA-Colmar of France situating INIA at the forefront of international research in this area, thus providing effective backing to the multiplication of greenhouse plants and verification of vineyard clones.