Ames, Iowa
April, 2009
Source: Fall/Winter 2008-09
Issue of the Iowa Seed & Biosafety newsletter, published by the
Seed Science Center and the Biosafety Institute for Genetically
Modified Agricultural Products at
Iowa State
University
http://www.bigmap.iastate.edu/images/fallwinter0809.pdf
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Pictured at the Pan-American Seed Congress in Cartagena,
Colombia, in October are (from left) UPAO Professor
Alicia Rocha Valencia, Seed Science Center Global
Program Leader Joe Cortes, and UPAO Dean Cesar Ventura
Flores. |
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Cesar Ventura Flores, Dean, and Alicia Rocha Valencia,
professor, of the College of Agriculture at
Antenor Orrego Private
University (UPAO) located in Trujillo, Peru, recently cited
Seed Science Center Global Program Leader Joe Cortes for his
role in helping to develop the country’s seed industry.
Cortes worked with the seed industry in Peru from 1989 to 1992
as part of an Iowa State project. During that time, he was
involved in the creation of CODESES (Comites Departamentales de
Semillas). CODESES was designed to develop and enhance Peru’s
seed industry by providing training, assistance, and other
services to small seed entrepreneurs.
In addition to CODESES, Cortes worked to implement seed
certification activities in eight preselected areas in the
country.
Flores and Valencia’s company Semillas Ventura was the
first seed company to be established under the ISU project.
Their enterprise, located in the northern region of Peru,
specializes in the production of rice seed.
Because of programs like CODESES and others, the number of
established seed companies operating across Peru has increased
substantially. Currently, there are over 80 established seed
companies in Peru—34 are located in the Department of
Lambayeque, 32 are located in La Libertad, and the remaining
companies are located in six main areas across the country. |
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