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QUALITY PROTEIN MAIZE: HIGHER YIELDS & TWICE AS MUCH USABLE PROTEIN
ORE is currently launching a high-protein, high-yielding variety of corn to help alleviate malnutrition in Haiti. Quality protein maize, or "QPM", originally developed at CIMMYT in Mexico in the late 1990s, contains nearly twice as much usable protein as other maize grown in the tropics and yields substantially more grain than traditional corn.

Since 2000 ORE has been collaborating with CIMMYT on QPM trials in Camp Perrin. ORE has conducted several trial cycles and selected the material best adapted to Haiti. The rpogram now enables us to introduce this corn to a wider public and demonstrate its nutritional benefits as well it ability to earn more income for farmers from its higher yields.

  
Field multiplication of two existing QPM lines
to produce foundation seeds
for hybrid seed production
 
 
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The idea is to help Haiti develop its own seed-producing capabilities for hybrid quality protein maize. This will help to make profitable corn production possible for thousands of the farmers who plant corn every year in Haiti. It will also improve food security and as well as providing better nutrition for the needy sectors of the population.

The second phase of our program involves feeding programs. Grits processed from the QPM have been used to feed a selected target group of women and children in the south of Haiti. The results of the feeding program were monitored to evaluate the benefits of the improved nutritional values of QPM.
 

QPM seeds have demonstrated yields
3-4 times higher than the nationwide average
  
       
QPM - A MIRACLE CROP
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) stated in 2002 that their new corn "contains nearly twice as much usable protein as other maize grown in the tropics and yields 10 percent more grain.

In recognition of this work, the World Food Prize Foundation today tapped two scientists from the Mexico-based International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), where the research has been ongoing for over three decades, as the 2000 recipients of the World Food Prize.

The new maize was developed through traditional plant breeding... Researchers expect that by 2003, the number of hectares sown to QPM will triple to approximately 3.5 million hectares
(8.75 million acres)." 		 

Corn is Haiti's major crops, planted on 47% of its arable land. According to CIMMYT the QPM corn has the same protein value as milk.
 

A HIGH PROTEIN FEEDING PROGRAM
ORE conducted a feeding program involving corn grits (mayi moulen) produced from the QPM material. The feeding and evaluation program targeted undernourished women and children in the local community.

 QPM SEEDS ARE NOW AVAILABLE IN HAITI
In 2008 ORE distributed 70 tons from its processing facilities in Camp Perrin. Initial stocks of QPM Seeds are limited, but if we are able to obtain continued support for this program it will be possible to produce larger quantities of seeds for general release in hte years to come.

OUR SPECIAL THANKS TO FOKAL FOR THEIR HELP
We would like to offer our special thanks to FOKAL (Fondation Connaissance et Liberté, The Open Society Institute Haiti funded by Georges Soros) who provided the funding for the QPM program in Haiti. It should be noted that FOKAL is one of the few institutions in Haiti to have taken a serious interest in promoting this 'miracle crop' which has been widely supported in many other third world countries. Despite widespread malnutrition in Haiti, and the low yields from traditional corn, there is little interest among agencies involved in Agriculture, Food Security and Feeding Programs in improving Haiti's ability to produce its own supplies of nutritional food.

MALNUTRITION IN HAITI

Statistics show that over a quarter of Haitian children suffer from chronic malnutrition and a larger percentage of adults are undernourished. According to USAID-SISA (1995), 47% of Haiti's arable lands are planted with corn every year, but the average yields are 0.8 MT per hectare, the lowest in the hemisphere. The director of CIMMYT stated, "the problem is that diets high in maize lack two essential amino acids needed to prevent malnutrition. These remarkable new varieties look and taste like normal maize, but the nutritive value of their protein is nearly equivalent to cow's milk." The QPM corns will produce 3-4 MT per hectare.


Since 1985, the Organization for the Rehabilitation of the Environment
has developed and operated fruit tree grafting and crop improvement programs in rural Haiti.
During those years several international agencies have generously provided the funding that made it possible to maintain continuity of our development projects. These include USAID, the European Union, the Canadian Embassy, Inter-American Development Bank and other contributors.

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