Abstract

ARISTIDES DELEON, José; SANGERMAN-JARQUIN, Dora Ma.  and  CUEVAS SANCHEZ, Jesús Axayacatl. Acceptance of maize Platino, Oro Blanco and Protemas cultivars of high proteinic quality in El Salvador, Central America. Agric. Téc. Méx [online]. 2009, vol.35, n.4, pp.409-418. ISSN 0568-2517.

In El Salvador, the nutritional diet average is composed by a high percentage of maize and kidney bean, especially in the countryside, which is in addition, intimately bound to the traditional culture. In 2007 the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAL) of El Salvador, plans a strategy, to give solution to the problems of the producers, stimulating the maize culture with high proteinic content (HPC). It means the promotion of new hybrids and varieties of maize, that within the validation tests, contribute to the increase of the productivity, at the same time as they improve the nutritious quality of grains. The objective of the investigation was, to consider the index of acceptance of Oro Blanco, Platino and Protemas cultivars; and to identify social, economic, agronomic and technological variables, that explain the causes of the acceptance or rejection of that technology, by the beneficiary producers of the programme. The investigation was made in the year 2008, at the regions I and IV of El Salvador. A survey was done to 133 maize producers, which was applied to the program to promote the productivity of basic grains and pastures, 2006-2007 beneficiary producers. Some of the highlighted results were that 60% of the producers were willing to cultivate during the next agricultural cycle, the materials undern study, in 96% of the areas seeded with HPC, in 2007. The cv Oro Blanco turned out to have major acceptance, with an index of acceptance of 82.5%; Protemas, reached 69.6% and the Platino obtained 53.7%.

Keywords : maize; proteinic quality; cultivar; farmers.