ifoam'96 Book of Abstracts 11th IFOAM Scientific Conference 11-15 August 1996, Copenhagen, Denmark

ECOWEB FRONT PAGE SUBJECT INDEX AUTHOR INDEX

Posters

Quinoa to Dry Lands of Spain. P1; 37

Departamento de Producción Vegetal. Fitotecnia: Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. Spain. 2Finca experimental La Higueruela CSIC. 45530. Santa Olalla. (Toledo). Spain. 3Servicio de Investigación y Tecnología Agrária. Pintor Matias Moreno 4 ,45071, Toledo. Spain

Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd) base is used for many food purposes in the Andean area. Quinoa is a little investigated pseudocereal for marginal zones, and offers interesting possibilities as crop in Spain (specially in Castilla la Mancha). Quinoa has better quality for food than cereals: higher content in proteins, excellent balanced of essential aminoacids (specially lysine), good content in fatty acids, very small size of starch (1-2 micrometer of diameter) and higher viscosity. It could be used in multiple applications from human and animal consumption, industrial pharmacopoeia and medicinal.
Quinoa, has a similar cycle to sunflower and could be cultivated in the same areas whit a three-leaf rotation. We recommended a rotation of legume-cereal-quinoa for ecological cultivation in the dry zones of Spain, in lines of two spaced far enough to allow weed control. In preliminary experiments, quinoa yield was higher than sunflower yield.