ABSTRACT
The Huehuetenango region of the Cuchumatanes highlands in western Guatemala is an important centre of maize diversity. Asocuch joined forces with government agencies, Fundacion para la Innovacion Tecnologica, Agropecuaria y Forestal and the Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnologia Agricola, to implement a Guatemalan component of the Collaborative Programme on Participatory Plant Breeding in Mesoamerica. Starting in the Quilinco community, maize landraces conserved by farmers were collected and characterized to form a base collection representative of the on-farm diversity available in the area. This initial collection was used to develop a participatory breeding process in which farmers were trained in selection techniques that gradually improved the performance of local varieties based on farmers' preferences. Currently, no policy mechanisms allow registration or certification of improved landrace varieties produced by farmers and agricultural cooperatives.
