Since she was a child, **Trigidia Jiménez** had a special connection with **agriculture**, learning from her father in **Mina San José, Oruro (Bolivia)**, where they grew potatoes. That bond with the land strengthened when she held a **cañahua seed** in her hands for the first time.
**“It was like an electric current”**, describes the agronomist in a conversation with the El País portal. Jiménez is now an international reference in the **production, transformation, and commercialization** of this [smart crop](https://noticiasambientales.com/compromiso-ambiental/sustratos-inteligentes-para-producir-plantines-la-innovacion-del-inta/).
## Cañahua: Resilient to Climate Change
Considered the **”cousin” of quinoa**, **cañahua** stands out for its **high resilience** to:
– **Droughts and floods**.
– **Low temperatures** and adverse soils.
– **Abrupt changes in the ecosystem**.
Despite its size, its **productive capacity remains intact**, making it a key option for the future of [food security](https://noticiasambientales.com/bienestar/el-banco-de-alimentos-refuerza-su-plan-de-desayunos-para-ninos/).
## The Impact of Cañahua in Bolivia
When Jiménez started working with cañahua, **there was no market for its production**.
Today, after 20 years of effort:
– **More than 1,500 families** cultivate cañahua in **2,000 hectares**.
– Its consumption has been integrated into the **maternal lactation subsidy in Bolivia**.
– A **transformation industry** has been developed, with products such as: flour and pito (precooked flour), energy bars, cookies, soups, and puffed products.
## International Recognition for Her Work
For her work, Jiménez was awarded as one of the **“Leaders of Rurality”** by the **Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture**, a recognition for those who **positively impact agroecological production**.
## Fusion of Ancestral and Scientific Knowledge
One of the pillars of success of **Granja Samiri**, Jiménez’s enterprise, has been the **combination of traditional knowledge with scientific advances**.
With the **National Institute of Agricultural and Forestry Innovation**, she has worked on:
– **Development of adapted varieties** such as **Wila and Samiri**.
– **Research on more than 800 ecotypes of cañahua in Bolivia**.
– **Potential of each grain color** for different industrial uses.
## The Path to the Future
The engineer highlights that there is still **a lot of work** ahead: To **domesticate a wild subspecies**, **six to seven agricultural cycles** are needed to achieve a crop with **99% varietal purity**.
The key to success, she says, is to **recover ancestral knowledge**. Through her work, Jiménez not only **revitalizes cañahua production** but also promotes a **sustainable agroecological model** capable of **facing the challenges of climate change**.
