Born in Cusco, Peru, Ochoa received degrees from the Universidad Mayor de San Simón, Cochabamba, Bolivia and from the University of Minnesota, USA. For a long time Ochoa worked as a wheat and potato breeder. He created important Peruvian potato varieties including Renacimiento, Yungay, and Tomasa Condemayta.
Ochoa collected many native potato varieties and wild potato species. One third of the nearly 200 known wild potato species were first described by him.
1962. Los Solanum tuberiferos silvestres del Perú : Secc. Tuberarium, Sub.-Secc. Hyperbasarthrum
1991. The Potatoes of South America. Bolivia. Cambridge Press. 570 pp. ISBN0-521-38024-3
1999. Las papas de Sudamérica. Centro Internacional de la Papa. ISBN92-9060-197-3
2006. Ugent, D.; C.M. Ochoa. La Etnobotánica Del Perú : Desde La Prehistoria Al Presente. Consejo Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnologia e Innovacion Tecnologica, CONCYTEC. 379 pp. ISBN9972-50-050-0