Forrages and Lentils

Friday, student Joel Bautista successfully defended his graduation project about the adaptation of different forrages to the local ecosystem. He tried out five species suggested by our collaborators at Brigham Young University, and found that weeping lovegrass (Eragrostis curvula) adapted well to our environment, and that this species could be cultivated to feed cattle, or even dry and sell as hay to the Bolivian Altiplano in their dry season.


Photo: Joel signs the defense document, with his mother, father and aunt in the background.

Yesterday, another agronomy student, Silvia Sevillanos, presented her research project about the adaptation of lentils to the land around Carmen Pampa. Of the four varieties that she planted, French Green was the best producer. Lentils are great soil improvers, full of protein, and cook much quicker than most legumes. This variety will become part of the university's cache of plants that both improve food security and permit greater economic stability.


Photo: Silvia with her son and husband, also soon to graduate.