To deploy the comparative advantages of its agro-ecological conditions, the La Selva Research Center leads research, innovation, technological development and technology transfer initiatives in production systems in the moderately cold climate of the inter-Andean valleys of Colombia. Research focuses on fruits such as avocado, blackberry, golden berry, lulo (Solanum quitoense), tree tomato (Solanum betaceum), Andean blueberry (agraz or mortiño) and passion flower fruits: purple passion fruit (gulupa), sweet granadilla, passion fruit and banana passion fruit; on basic commodities such as beans, maize and potatoes; and on other crops like hemp and aromatic, medicinal and spice plants. Work in vegetables is carried out under field and under controlled conditions with several regionally and nationally important species.

The Center hosts Colombia’s National Plant Germplasm Bank, where genetic resources of native and introduced plant species are conserved, maintained and characterized. These species are strategic for sustainable, efficient, and competitive agricultural systems, since they contribute to developing improved cultivars and enhancing their use in value-added processes at the agroindustrial level. Currently, La Selva's collection has 6,227 accessions, kept in special seed maintenance and preservation facilities as an active bank with duplicate security samples and regeneration in field collections.

The Center also has the only forest relict in the area (approximately 4 hectares), representative of the high Andean forest. This forest has evolved with minimal human intervention and is home to populations of birds, rodents, reptiles and numerous tree species native to this area. Due to these characteristics, the Center is part of the main ecological structure in the Valles de San Nicolás subregion, regulated by Agreement 192 of 2007 of the Board of Directors of the autonomous regional corporation for the watersheds of the Negro and Nare rivers (Corporación Autónoma Regional de las Cuencas de los Ríos Negro y Nare, Cornare).

One of the main activities in the Center’s agenda is the development and implementation of strategies and methodologies for the control of pests, diseases and weeds in productive systems. In addition, La Selva has a postharvest and agroindustry unit that uses technologies to simulate the storage of fresh fruit and vegetable products, agroindustrial transformation and physicochemical analysis.

La Selva has an area of 64 hectares, located in the municipality of Rionegro, in the eastern subregion of Antioquia, and is currently recognized as a Regional Integrated Management District (RIMD), according to Agreement 314 of 2014 of the Board of Directors of Cornare.

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Director

• Juan Mauricio Rojas

• (+57) 60 1 9144677, Ext. 2424
• jmrojas@agrosavia.co
• View profile

Food Engineer and M.Sc. in Integrated Quality Management Systems with previous professional experience at the national coffee research center (Centro Nacional de Investigaciones de Café, Cenicafé) established by the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia (Federación Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia, FEDECAFE). He has worked as researcher, manager and director of a significant number of initiatives of different nature, and knows the agricultural sector in depth, as he has experience in a variety of fields—from coffee to fruit to forest products.

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