Botanists collect wild pineapple, chilli and peanut relatives in Paraguarí for a national flora study
A Conacyt-funded project has finished its first field trip, gathering plants from Ybycuí National Park and four other sites.
Rocío Giménez, field and science reporter
· 2 min read
- 1Field trip: 14–18 September 2026
- 2Genera Ananas, Capsicum and Arachis
- 3Funded under Conacyt project ESTR01-39
Researchers studying Paraguay's native flora have completed the first field trip of a national project funded by Conacyt, the National Council of Science and Technology. Between 14 and 18 September the team surveyed sites in the department of Paraguarí.1
The route included Ybycuí National Park, the Mbatovi Nature Reserve, Chololó, Valenzuela and Sapucái. The botanists collected specimens and live plants from three genera with close links to food crops: Ananas (pineapple), Capsicum (peppers) and Arachis (peanut).1
Why these plants
The project looks at native species that could help improve crops, identifies plant compounds of interest for health and assesses how well Paraguay's flora is being conserved.1
The specimens will be kept and studied at the herbarium of the Faculty of Chemical Sciences, the San Carlos University branch in Itá and the peanut collection of the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences.1
Where this came from
Rocío Giménez checked this story against the sources below. Numbers in the text point to them.
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Rocío Giménez · Rocío studied agronomy at the National University of Asunción before moving into journalism. She writes about farming, food and research.