08/14/07 Grant helps market bean seed in Mexico

The Idaho Bean Commission has a 54 thousand dollar federal state Market Improvement Program grant from the USDA Agriculture Marketing Service. Magic Valley grower and Bean Commissioner Doug Carlquist says the grant will help in further testing of Idaho bean seed in different areas of Mexico as well as developing the Mexican market for Idaho certified seed. CARLQUIST "A big market down there for seed. There's going to still need to be quite an education process down there that we need to convince the growers as well as the managers of the co-ops down there the advantages of planting certified seed." Mexican bean producers have been searching for new varieties to improve yields. The first Idaho Certified Bean Seed trials took place in the central Mexican state of Sinaloa in 2004-05. Many of the 16 bean seed varieties tested produced high yields than Mexican varieties. The IBC conducted a second round of tests in the northern states of Chihuahua and Zacatecas which resulted in the sale of 1.4 million dollars worth of bean seed to Mexico in 2006. That was a 125 percent increase over 2005. Carlquist says they are looking for test plot land for the next growing season but so far they haven't found the right Mexican grower-cooperatives. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott