Cultures and Domestication

New species, new research

by Pablo B. EyzaguirreInternational Plant Genetic Resources Institute

Biodiversity and Agrobiodiversity

Cultural Adaptation by People to Difficult Environments Increases Biodiversity: Arab and Berber peoples in desert oases maintain drought resistant plant varieties and plant communities around a key species the date palm (Phoenix dactilefera)

Farmers Develop and Adapt Crops to Niches in their Ecosystems

• Adaptation to micro-niches and reduced agricultural inputs• Reduced costs for farmers• Human and ecosystem health

• A low cost source of vitamins and minerals

• Access for farmers to a secure source for locally adapted seeds

Why support the management of crop diversity in agroecosystems?

Crop diversity is found to be:

Low in site 3, where the agro-climatic conditions are very good

High in site 1 which is characterised by adverse agro-climatic conditions drought spells, poor soils, desertification.

At such risky conditions farmers seem to be using crop diversity as a strategy for survival: here diversity may be a means of life (survival).

• What is the relative importance of the formal and informal seed system?

• Where is the seed system vulnerable to environmental, social, or economic change

Nepal <3% rice

Burkina Faso <5% sorghum

Mexico <25% maize

Morocco <3% food legumes<13% durum wheat

A very small percent of cultivated area is planted with seeds purchased new each year from the formal certified seed system:

Adaptive management and seed systems

Objectives:

• Document genetic diversity in home gardens and the ecological, socio-cultural, and economic factors that govern its distribution and maintenance.

• Develop methods to include home garden systems in national agrobiodiversity strategies and programmes.

• Develop strategies for home gardens linked to ecosystem conservation, livelihoods, and cultural values.

Home Gardens: microenvironments and agroforestry systems that enhance livelihoods, health and ecosystem stability and functions.

Figura 1. Determinación del tamaño de la muestra para el estudio de los huertosfamiliares en la zona semiárida de Guatemala.

y = -0.1031x2 + 9.1729x + 67.41R2 = 0.9842

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43 45

No. de huertos

Espe

cies e

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Especies nuevas Especies acumuladas"s" acumulada Poly. (Especies acumuladas)

Increasing sample size and diversity in Guatemala. J.M. Leiva, C. Azurdia and W. Ovando. 2000

• Species Selection Criteria– Unique varieties found in

home gardens– High varietal diversity– Socio-cultural importance– Economic importance

• Characterization– Agromorphological traits

and descriptors– Ethnobotanical diversity

indicators – Genetic markers *

Key Species Selection and Characterization y

• Association with protected area/threatened ecosystem (buffer- Cuba)• Education on biodiversity through generations• Maintenance and distribution of heirloom varieties• Geneflow from wild ecosystems to garden (Lorocco, Eggplant, Yams, Taros,

Pepper)• Ecosystem services: soil enrichment, water retention, niche differentiation

can increase productivity of total agroecosystem, pollinators.

Conservation Value of Home Gardens

Uniform fruiting, leaf initiation and maturity of certain trees are the most plant-based indicators for predicting a season

Farmers knowledge about seasons

Ethnobotanical Indicators for Genetic Diversity

1. Species has an important role in the local food culture.• several names for varieties of the same species • folklore associated with species • ceremonial and ritual uses• knowledge about the species is well distributed across the different sectors of

the community and transmitted across generations

2. Multiple uses of the same species.• for example, as staple, vegetable, condiment, medicine, beverage, non-food

uses• different cultivars preferred for distinct uses• different parts of the plant are used for distinctive foods and non-food uses

3. Species is planted in diverse environments and micro-environments.• within an ecozone, farmers plant it under different conditions,

microenvironments. • species is found across a wide range of ecozones and in marginal areas,

even in places where one would not expect it• the species can occupy both major and secondary roles within local farming

systems

4. Local germplasm systems and germplasm exchange• diverse cultural communities maintain the species within their local

taxonomic and germplasm systems• exchange across cultural communities and growing environments• farmers have distinct criteria for selecting planting material from their own

harvest or from outside their farm community

PLANTSDA – Leaf fall of Tamarindus indica, Butyrospermum paradoxum

(Karite)D1 – Beginning to have leaf of Lannea microcarpa (Sabga),

Sclerocarya birrea (Nobga)D2 – Flowering of Sclerocarya birrea (Nobga), Lannea microcarpa

(Sabga), Pterocarpus lucens(Kumbrsaka),”Perperga”D3 – Yellowing and leaf fall of Lannea acida (Samb-nutuga)D4 – Appearance of Stylochiton hypogeae (Wule) in the river bedsD5 – Maturity and fruiting of Lannea microcarpa (Sabga),

Sclerocarya birrea (Nobga), Butyrospermum paradoxum (Taaga)

D6 – Ripening, drying and souring of fruits of Lannea microcarpa (Sabga), Sclerocarya birrea (Nobga)

BIRDSD7 – Guinea fowls laying eggsD8 – Some birds (Taaba) building their nestsD9 – Storks returning (migrating back) to the

villageD10 – South-North migration of Silokoe and

Kilimba birdsD11 – Sparrowhawk crying continuously

(repeatedly)

ANIMALSD12 – Lizards shading skinD13 – Toads going to the bush from pondsD14 – Toads croaking incessantly

STARS AND WEATHERD15 – Appearance of the constellation of six

stars in the westD16 – Change in the normal trajectory of the sunD17 – Wind blowing from the EastD18–Temperatures are warming upDx – First clouds appearingDy – Continuous thundering

RITUALSD19 – Predictions of rainmakersD20 – Traditional lunar calendar

(Sawadogo et al., 2001)

Farmers use environmental indicators to determine the beginning of the seasons and planting times to manage and harvest their crop cultivars in Burkina Faso

Local Yunnan taro types distinguished by corm formation,taste and cooking quality

Intensive intercropping of taro in paddy, an efficient andprofitable agronomic practice in Asia

In extensive low-input agriculture taro also has a place, taro cultivars more tolerant of water stress and with preferred tastes are grown in swiddens in Southeast Asian hillsides along with upland rice

Taro in Cuban home gardens

Minimal management under coffee and fruit trees

Careful management in boxes

Wild type taros flower readily in southern Yunnan, they are used for medicine and but the flower is not eaten

Wild type taros are used andvalued for their stolons, made into pickle and also noted for medicinal properties.

Preservation of food cultures that uses all parts of the plants and taroin all its statuses from wild, ruderal cultivated and intensive aids conservation of taro genetic diversity

Harvesting a field of high value Taro flowers in Yunnan

Red Flower Taroa local cultivar inSouthwest China,flower not eaten

Characterisation of Taro geneticresources underfarmer management should include organoleptic properties of leaves, stems, and flowers. For many taro food cultures these are important characters of taro diversity.(presence of cyanogenic glucosides)

Red flower and yellow flowertaros, this yellow is eaten butnot among the most preferred

Ethnobotanical classification practised alongside farmers led us to pay closerattention to flowering -andflower forms as a distinguishingcharacteristic for identificationof diversity in taros.

Taro flowers travelling to urban market on a bicycle to be sold and then stir fried

Highest value taro product in Yunnan, edible taro flowers in urban market

Taro in Laiyang China, intensive cultivation of singlecultivar for export ashigh-value product.

Not much diversityfor taro or people

Conservation and Use of Taro

• Focus on women producers, traders and processors

• Project partners: • Botswana

• Cameroon

• Kenya

• Senegal

• Zimbabwe

Priority Traditional Leafy Vegetable Species in Across Sub-Saharan Africa

•Amaranthus sp •Vigna unguiculata•Cleome gynandra•Cucurbita maxima, moschata•Solanum nigrum, americanum, scabrum•Hibiscus sabdariffa•Moringa oleifera•Vernonia amygdalina,cineria,fastigiata•Corchorus olitorius

Selection characters used by farmers growing African leafy vegetables

• Taste• Ease of cooking• Leaf size• Delayed flowering• Pest resistance• Water requirements• Length of freshness • Multiple purpose

Farmers’ selection characters and disease in cassava

Increase consumer demand• Niche markets• Sale of processed products in

addition to grain or forage• Sensitization to nutritional and

cultural values

Role of policy• Research, education, and development

agendas• Benefit sharing

• Support to the informal seed supply system

• Integrate locally adapted crop cultivars in extension packages

• Literacy training for better access and use of information

Mainstreaming – More options

Organized by women's groups in Khola Ko Chew village, Kaski district, Nepal.

The play is based on a true story from the village that demonstrates the value of growing wild rice in the surroundings of landraces

"Such is the Happenings of a Village"

Roadside Diversity Drama:

Culture and plant use can support each other: The Kanyika Kitete Museum works to conserve gourds (Lagenaria) and Kamba culture.