October 2009

Amancio Alvarado: the persistence in our breeding program

Amancio studied agronomy at the University of Costa Rica and is now the head of the experimental station and the breeding program in the locality of Coto, in southern Costa Rica. He started his professional career in 1990 when Dr. D.L. Richardson (now retired) was the director of the oil palm research program. Since the beginning, Amancio’s intelligence and dedication was rapidly recognized, and he now leads the breeding program under the guidance of Ricardo Escobar, general manager of ASD.

Amancio does not talk very much, but he is clearly persistent and methodical in his work, so the results speak for him in the form of outstanding oil palm varieties that have received ample recognition in the world.

Throughout his career with ASD, Amancio has been at the center of the efforts to develop new and better oil palm varieties, including the compact varieties, which have received the blessing of many companies around the world. In addition, the breeding program has other goals such as the commercial consolidation of compact clones and the development of new varieties with novel characteristics such as tolerance to stress, improved oil quality and characteristics that make harvesting easier, among others. Moreover, the program is actively developing new OxG hybrids aimed at alleviating the crisis caused by oil palm bud rots in some regions of tropical America.

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New genotypes adapted to cold and water deficit conditions

ASD has a long tradition of developing new oil palm varieties adapted to different environmental conditions. More recently, two new trials were planted in highlands at 1,200 and 900 meters above sea level in the mountainous region of San Vito in southern Costa Rica. The first of these trials was planted in an area that has high precipitation and the other in a site where there is a marked dry season. A replication of all genotypes was planted in the lowlands of the Coto experimental station. The varieties planted were Deli x Ghana, Deli x Nigeria, Bamenda x Ekona and Tanzania x Ekona.

Bunch production has just began in these plots, but in the highlands it has been clear that vegetative growth and precocity have been better in the Bamenda x Ekona and Tanzania x Ekona varieties (the mother palms of these varieties were originally collected from highlands in their respective regions of Africa). Nevertheless, in the lowlands (where vegetative growth and precocity have been better) all varieties have performed similarly. We will keep you posted on any new developments from these trials.

Ricardo Escobar: pathfinder of ASD’s vision

Ricardo has been the general manager of ASD for the last 18 years. During this period he has stamped his own distinctive mark on the vision of ASD, as a company open to the world that is now recognized as a pioneer in the development of new varieties and technologies for increasing oil palm productivity. Ricardo’s vision included the recognition of new opportunities overseas, and one of his goals was to plant some of ASD’s germplasm in Indonesia (where alliances were formed with a prestigious company), in order to produce some of the best varieties there, facilitating sales to that part of the world.

It is true that the compact varieties have had a long breeding process that started with the efforts by Dr. D.L. Richardson, former research director; but it has not been until now that they have obtained a well deserved place within the international oil palm seed market. The exploitation of the unique characteristics of these varieties through cloning is one of the company’s priorities according the Ricardo’s vision. ASD is proud to be the only company in Tropical America that has developed a unique methodology for cloning oil palms from inflorescence tissue.

Ricardo got an M.Sc. degree in Tropical Crops from CATIE in Turrialba in 1976. Soon after he graduated, he was contacted by the former research director of the PRP (Palm Research Program) of Chiquita Brands (the company that created ASD) to work in the oil palm breeding program. This was his first contact with the oil palm, but four years later he moved to Brazil to work for EMBRAPA as an OEA consultant on the breeding of perennial crops. His breeding work with ‘guaraná’ is still the foundation of today’s efforts to create new varieties of this crop that is so popular in Brazil, which is now gaining recognition in other countries due to its medicinal properties.

The next step was to accept a position with FAO in 1987 to establish an oil palm breeding program in Thailand, which he successfully did. In 1990, he came back to Costa Rica as the general manager for ASD, and later, as the research director of this company, the position he holds today. To better accomplish his new duties as an administrator, he completed an M.Ba in banking and finance.

Ricardo considers his main accomplishment at ASD to have been the organization of the company, to make it competitive in the international oil palm seed market, considering the advantages and disadvantages of having a breeding program in Costa Rica that is capable of distributing the seeds around the world. As a result of this work, ASD has gained a competitive edge over other seed companies, by offering seed varieties and clones with novel characteristics and the ability to adapt to diverse environments in many countries. Ricardo’s main satisfaction resides in having organized ASD to the point of reaching administrative maturity, where the heads of the different departments are able to organize themselves administratively so they can reach their objectives through permanent innovation. Within this scheme, the general manager is an advisor and facilitator of the resources needed, but the real force is within the head of each department.

The initial impulse is already on, so ASD is now a mature company with a well established culture that emphasizes client satisfaction and product quality and innovation. No doubt, ASD now occupies a well-deserved position in the international oil palm seed and clone market.

XXIX International Course on Oil Palm Cultivation

The XXIX International Course on Oil Palm Cultivation was held last July at the ASD facilities in Coto. This new course had special significance, since it was the first one to make use of the new facilities where ASD now has its administrative offices, the new seed processing unit, and the tissue culture and molecular biology laboratories.

This time we had the participation of 24 students from nine countries. For three weeks the students received classes and had the opportunity to put this knowledge to the test in several field practices. The experience was very valuable for the personnel from ASD and our sister company Palma Tica, since we exchanged experiences and had the opportunity to learn from one other.