Das Projekt "Cassava for food security and sustainability in Colombia: Biotechnological application of mycorrhizal fungi" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universite de Lausanne, Departement de medecine interne, Division de pneumologie durchgeführt. The Eastern Plains region of Colombia is a large tract of tropical savannah covering approximately 17Prozent of the Colombian land mass. It is an agriculturally poor region where current agricultural practices of cattle ranching have rapidly lead to poor soil fertility and low productivity. In Colombia, agriculture represents a very important part of the economy. In an attempt to economically stabilize the region the government has developed a regional plan for the Eastern Plains. This includes converting pasture land into cropping systems that provide food security for the growing Colombian population and reducing poverty.Cassava is the key crop in the regional plan for economic development and stability. However, cassava is a plant that is almost completely dependent on a symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) to efficiently obtain nutrients and grow. AMF have already been shown to greatly enhance cassava yields in the field, even when added to soil that already contains AMF. They also allow farmers to reduce fertilizer inputs and use much cheaper sources of phosphate. However, to realistically use AMF to increase cassava yields and make cassava cropping more profitable, it is necessary to inoculate with native AMF in a sterile based carrier, with low transport costs. This project seeks to isolate native AMF from soils in the eastern plains and from the roots of cassava in native undisturbed populations, screen them for effectiveness in increasing cassava yields and then put some of the most effective ones into a clean sterile culture system on artificial media for mass production. These AMF isolates will be used as inocula in field trials. Because cassava is so mycorrhiza-dependent, we also propose to screen the genetic diversity of cassava for mycorrhizal responsiveness. The Swiss group will use their expertise in molecular genetics of AMF to develop a molecular marker system for quality control of AMF inoculum in cassava roots and perform a pilot AMF breeding approach to cross AMF and obtain genetically novel AMF for use in the field. The Swiss partner will train the Colombian group in these technologies. The results of the project will be disseminated within the framework of the socio-economic plan for the region developed by the National University of Colombia's Institute for Studies in Orinoquia. Researchers in that institute will use the results of this project to make economic projections of the impact of the results on small farms and cooperatives in the Eastern Plains and at the whole regional level. They will then accordingly disseminate the information to agronomists, farmers and land-owners in the region.