Inducción de variabilidad genética en caña de azúcar para la obtención de cultivos resilientes a estrés hídrico y el favorecimiento de la productividad en zonas marginales dependientes de las lluvias.

Sugarcane is of social and economic importance for the rural development of Costa Rica, generating
₡8,600,000,000 annually, 58,000 jobs and is cultivated by 7,078 small and medium producers. The sector
is gathered in Liga Agrícola Industrial de la Caña de Azúcar (LAICA), a non-state public entity, centralizing
efforts to meet the sector's needs. There is a need to improve yield under water stress conditions. Yield is
around 95 t/ha with irrigation, 55 t/ha in dry land, and only 30 t/ha on average under water stress. This
project would address this need through biotechnology in alliance with the Department of Research and
Extension (DIECA) of LAICA.
The project proposes developing lines with tolerance to water stress through increasing genetic variability
with the exposure to gamma rays and pre-selection using in vitro water stress conditions. The goal is to
have adapted materials for regions with low agricultural productivity due to dependence on rainfall. Water
stress is a high-impact factor in the agronomic management of sugarcane that correlates with yield. Leaf
water potential and relative water content changes negatively affect crop yield.
Plant breeding trough radioinduced mutagenesis, developed jointly by TEC and DIECA-LAICA, has a
history of collaborative work with shared resources and infrastructure from previous projects (CF:1510029
y CF:1510186). DIECA is expected to collaborate with the fieldwork of the materials obtained at TEC. These
materials would stack characteristics such as tolerance to water stress and it is very possible, they will
maintain the behavior of materials that are successful in the field. It can reduce the release times by
verifying the adaptability of the agronomic behavior. The above supports the system of plant breeding
programs and reduces their dependence on varieties generated in other countries and the use of crossing
to obtain hybrid seeds in search of materials that adapt to the country.
TEC has unique equipment and professionals in the country to increase the genetic diversity of crops thanks
to the Gamma Irradiation Laboratory, which has the Gamma Cell (CoS 44HH-N Ob-Servo-Ignis) and CIB
laboratories. This collaboration allows for the impact of Goal 2.4 of the SDGs, in its indicator 2.4.1, through
more productive and sustainable agriculture, thanks to biotechnological techniques such as somatic
embryogenesis and mutation induction. As well as exchanges of experience between producers,
technicians, and researchers from TEC and DIECA.
The project's innovation lies in its use of plant material provided by LAICA to develop the methodologies.
The chosen variety will be established in vitro, and the LC50 of sorbitol will be established to induce water
stress in vitro. The generation and selection of mutants will continue, and these mutants will be acclimatized
in a greenhouse and transferred for field evaluation by DIECA. The project's culmination is expected to
yield at least one promising mutant line useful for farmers.

Inducir variabilidad genética en caña de azúcar mediante el cultivo de tejidos y
radiación gamma para la obtención de cultivos resilientes a estrés hídrico y el
favorecimiento de la productividad en zonas marginales dependientes de las
lluvias.

Biotecnología Vegetal.