Quinoa is a highly diverse crop domesticated in the Andean region of South America with broad adaptation to a wide range of marginal environments. Quinoa has garnered interest worldwide due to its nutritional and health benefits. Over the last decade, quinoa production has expanded outside of the Andean region, prompting multiple studies investigating the potential for quinoa cultivation in novel environments. Currently, quinoa is grown in countries spanning five continents, including North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Oceania. Here, we update the advances of quinoa research in Ecuador across different topics, including (a) current quinoa production situation with a focus on breeding progress, (b) traditional seed production, and (c) the impact of the work of the nongovernment organization “European Committee for Training and Agriculture” with quinoa farmers in Chimborazo province. Additionally, we discuss genetic diversity, primary pests and diseases, actions for adapting quinoa to tropical areas, and recent innovations in quinoa processing in Ecuador. Finally, we report a case study describing a participatory breeding project between Washington State University and the Association of Andean Seed and Nutritional Food Producers Mushuk Yuyay in the province of Cañar.

Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) is an important export of the Andean region, and its key disease is quinoa downy mildew, caused by Peronospora variabilis. P. variabilis oospores can be seedborne and rapid methods to detect seedborne P. variabilis have not been developed. In this research, a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based detection method was developed to detect seedborne P. variabilis and a sequencing-based method was used to validate the PCR-based method. P. variabilis was detected in 31 of 33 quinoa seed lots using the PCR-based method and in 32 of 33 quinoa seed lots using the sequencing-based method. Thirty-one of the quinoa seed lots tested in this study were sold for human consumption, with seed originating from six different countries. Internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and cytochrome c oxidase subunit 2 (COX2) phylogenies were examined to determine whether geographical differences occurred in P. variabilis populations originating from Ecuador, Bolivia, and the United States. No geographical differences were observed in the ITS-derived phylogeny but the COX2 phylogeny indicated that geographical differences existed between U.S. and South American samples. Both ITS and COX2 phylogenies supported the existence of a Peronospora sp., distinct from P. variabilis, that causes systemic-like downy mildew symptoms on quinoa in Ecuador. The results of these studies allow for a better understanding of P. variabilis populations in South America and identified a new causal agent for quinoa downy mildew. The PCR-based seed detection method allows for the development of P. variabilis-free quinoa seed, which may prove important for management of quinoa downy mildew.

Three barley cultivars, Shyri, Clipper and Terán, with different levels of partial resistance to barley leaf rust, caused by Puccinia hordei, were exposed to six levels of the pathogen. These levels were obtained by 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and 0 fungicide (Propiconazol) applications respectively and occurred every 15 days starting at 66 days after sowing. No application served as the control treatment. There were three replicates. The six-row plots were surrounded by a row of a highly susceptible barley cultivar in which the barley leaf rust arrived naturally in a fairly early plant stage. The disease severity was assessed five times with 15 days intervals starting at 66 days after sowing. The yields were determined by harvesting the inner four rows of the plots.An analysis of variance was carried out on the area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC) data and on the yield data. 'Shyri' was the least susceptible cultivar, 'Terán' the most. The percentage yield losses varied with the six levels of pathogen from 0 to 31.5% ('Shyri'), from 0 to 46% ('Clipper') and from 0 to 63.5% ('Terán'). The yield losses correlated strongly with the AUDPC, the linear correlation coefficient being 0.97. The yield losses indicate the importance of the pathogen in Ecuador. It also means that high levels

Twenty downy mildew isolates were collected in south, central and north Ecuador and inoculated on seedlings of 60 quinoa lines. A scale for scoring quinoa downy mildew infections was developed. Four virulence groups and three resistance factors were identified. In southern Ecuador only isolates of virulence group 2 were collected, while in the central region only virulence group 4 was found. In the north of Ecuador isolates of all four virulence groups were collected. Resistance factor R3 was found most frequently in seedlings of 13 high‐yielding Ecuadorian quinoa lines. No effective resistance against group 4, the most virulent group, was observed. Lines ECU‐288 (susceptible), ECU‐291(R1), ECU‐470 (R2) and ECU‐379 (R3) could be used as a preliminary quinoa differential set for identifying downy mildew virulence groups.