Cuba poised for production of wheat modified by radiation mutagenesis that adapts to extreme heat and climate fluctuations

The history of Cuban science is full of the challenges faced by daring, diligent and, above all, persistent researchers. An example of this are the scientists who have tried to introduce and promote wheat in our country, a staple food on a global scale.

The weakness in this project lies in how slow is the generalization of the results expanding, a point of view with which many scientists, this journalist and many people agree.    

This mindset needs to be overturned immediately, especially with the Food Sovereignty Law in place and as part of the national security strategy. If anyone still doubts it, show them the high prices of imported products resulting from the inflation unleashed, among other things, by the impact of COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine, one of the main grain suppliers in the world together with Russia.

THE SCIENTIFIC PATH OF WHEAT

Wheat, a grain of transcendental importance at the international level, had an arduous scientific path on the island. This is revealed in a study entitled Wheat Cultivation in Cuba, a Century of Work, by a group of authors from the Fundamental Research in Tropical Agriculture, Molecular Biology and Sugarcane Research Institutes and universities in Villa Clara, Ciego de Avila, Havana and Canada.

According to the research, this cereal arrived in Cuba with the Spanish settlers and during a long period its cultivation flourished, mainly in the central area of the island.

They cite different documents, among which are notes from 1848, made by the Cuban scholar Antonio Bachiller y Morales.

However, notes by the same author and other followers of the subject state that it experienced, throughout the country, a notorious decline due to several causes, such as the importation of flour from Castile, at prices that were very competitive, to which was added the presence of pests that affected the varieties available at that time and the economic incentive derived from the cultivation of sugar cane and tobacco.

Created in 1904, the Santiago de las Vegas Agronomic Experimental Station, currently the Institute for Fundamental Research in Tropical Agriculture (INIFAT for Spanish), introduced in 1909, according to reliable records, seeds of a group of varieties destined to promote wheat cultivation in the country.

Three years later, as a result of the reproduction of the seeds acquired, they were sent to Sancti Spíritus and other places in the center of the island, which was requested by farmers. Unfortunately, most of the seed did not germinate.

The scientific institution did not cease in its efforts, in which it repeatedly counted on the collaboration of farmers who imported and sowed seeds on their own. It is recorded in documents that in the 1930s several shipments of seeds of different varieties and from different origins were received, to be subjected to phytotechnical studies at the Agricultural Experimental Station of Santiago de las Vegas.

There is also evidence of good sowing results from 1940 to 1942, but it was also known that from 1943 onwards, harvests decreased because the varieties began to lose their original qualities. Then, on the basis of a decade of work, the Santiago de las Vegas Agronomic Experimental Station published a report in which it stated: "...the introduced varieties fail to acclimatize, losing yield, germination, vitality and their good morphological characteristics with successive harvests."

Scientists did not abandon the genetic improvement program, and in 1949 concluded that wheat cultivation would not become stable "...until Cuba has varieties adapted to our climatic conditions."

CLIMBING NEW RUNGS

The National Institute of Land Reform, established by Fidel in 1959, also took the reintroduction of wheat seriously. The nation was counting on the experience and passion of researchers at the Santiago de las Vegas Agronomic Experiment Station. Thus, in the 1960s, the introduction of new varieties and those already tested continued, followed by their shipment to farmers interested in promoting the cultivation of the cereal.

In 1964, work began on obtaining Cuban varieties. Engineer César Ismael Cueto Robayna (died in 2000), who was convinced of the need to carry out a genetic improvement program, played an important role in this process.

Actions to obtain a variety adapted to our climate started with the study of the Brazilian variety BH 11-46. Through the selection of its best genotypes, the 204 selection was achieved, which was tested in different parts of the country.

This gave rise to Cuba C - 204, the first Cuban wheat variety. Compared to the original, notable changes were observed in the height and size of the ears. When evaluating the growth parameters, it germinates 3-4 days after sowing, begins to sprout at 11 days and the ears at 43 days. The harvest takes place between 90 and 100 days.

The vision of the researchers became sharper, and in the 1980's and 1990's they concentrated on determining the most suitable agro-technology for our conditions, based on the variety Cuba C-204. The work responded to a program developed under the auspices of a multidisciplinary wheat group, formed at INIFAT.

Thus, it was established that the bases of agro-technology should take into consideration the production and conservation of basic seed, the study of the phytopathology and physiology of wheat in Cuba and the breeding of new varieties.

SCIENCE WITH MORE SCIENCE

The breeding of varieties by radiomutagenesis characterizes the other program launched in the 1990s to broaden the genetic basis of Cuban varieties.

The team, led by Dr. Susana Pérez Talavera, decided to use the mutation radioinduction techniques developed a decade ago by the Radiobiology and Radiomutagenesis group at INIFAT. The Cuba C -204 variety was chosen as a parent and its radiosensitivity was studied in order to determine the dose of gamma radiation to which the seeds would be subjected in search of the desired purpose.

The results were impressive. Seven new wheat varieties appeared in the Cuban scientific and agricultural panorama: Inifat RM-26, Inifat RM-29, Inifat RM-30, Inifat RM-31, Inifat RM-32, Inifat RM-36 and Inifat RM-37. These new varieties make possible to design an appropriate planting policy according to the characteristics of each one.

Cuba finally obtained eight wheat varieties. Common to all of them is the three-month cycle, uniform ripening, yields of two tons per hectare (in rainfed conditions) and more, as well as resistance to drought, salinity and lodging.

The long process by which they were obtained was also supported by research related to cytogenetics and anatomy, which define their biological characteristics and physical traits.

Recently, Víctor Daniel Gil, director of the Center for Agricultural Research in Villa Clara, spoke about the need to generalize the planting of peas, chickpeas and wheat in Cuban fields and recalled that the cultivation of the latter has prospects based on the work done by the INIFAT team.

With the varieties obtained, wheat can be sown and harvested in Cuba. There are those who already do it, but a more energetic and concrete response is needed from state entities and private producers who can join this work.