Participatory breeding in the Peruvian highlands: Opportunities and challenges for promoting conservation and sustainable use of underutilized crops

Abstract

Underutilized crops tend to harbor high levels of genetic diversity, be maintained on-farm in small-scale farming systems and be relatively neglected by formal research and development strategies, including breeding programs. While high genetic variability allows these crops to adapt to marginal environments, inappropriate management practices and reductions in population sizes in individual farmers' plots may lead to productivity loss and poor harvests. This situation further limits their cultivation and use, notwithstanding the potential these crops may hold for diversification of agricultural systems, food security and market development. Peru hosts a wealth of native agrobiodiversity, which includes many underutilized crops. To improve their performance and promote their continued conservation and use, a participatory breeding program was developed on five underutilized crops of the Peruvian highlands; the breeding approach, based on a combination of evolutionary and participatory methods, is designed to achieve a balance between yield improvement and maintenance of genetic diversity. Preliminary results in quinoa and amaranth are encouraging, fostering further engagement of farmers by increasing availability of quality seed for downstream uses. However, methodological, financial and institutional issues need to be addressed for the effort to be expanded and upscaled. This paper provides an overall description of the initiative as well as a discussion on early results obtained in quinoa and amaranth, highlighting those aspects that make this approach particularly relevant for minor crops and identifying the opportunities and challenges for the initiative to move forward.

Peru potato potential: Biodiversity conservation and value chain development

“…To encourage conservation practices, various market and non-market mechanisms have been implemented. Non-market-oriented methods include strategies such as diversity fairs, participatory plant breeding, seed banks and capacity-building for the collective management of biodiversity (Brush, 2000; Tapia, 2000; Gill et al, 2012; Galluzzi et al, 2015). Experimentation has also occurred with market mechanisms to encourage conservation.…”

“…In highland communities, diversity across and within crops is prominent with the potato often considered as the most important staple (Brush, 1995; Thiele, 1999; Mayer, 2001; Perez et al, 2010; Galluzzi et al, 2015). However, the introduction and increasing adoption of improved varieties since the 1950s has caused concern that potato agrobiodiversity is eroding as native varieties are replaced by those that are high yielding (Zimmerer, 1998; Scurrah et al, 2008; Perez et al, 2010).…”

Participatory plant breeding: Who did it, who does it and where?

“…PPB is a socially inclusive process, which brings with it farmer empowerment and increased agrobiodiversity, and can improve gender equitability (Tufan et al, 2018). Additional advantages of PPB/PVS are the production of varieties more resilient, with higher yield (Ceccarelli et al, 2003;Gibson et al, 2011), greater adoption rate (Galluzzi et al, 2014), increase genetic diversity (Joshi et al, 1997), and household food security (Joshi et al, 2012).…”

Seeds of Change — Plant Genetic Resources and People’s Livelihoods

“…Important is that underutilized or minor crops often harbour high levels of genetic diversity being maintained on-farm in small-scale farming systems; however they are relatively neglected by formal research and development strategies, including breeding programs. Results from Peru hosting a wealth of native agro-biodiversity including many underutilized crops indicated the potential of a breeding approach for indigenous Andean crops, based on a combination of evolutionary and participatory methods to reach a balance between yield improvement and maintenance of genetic diversity [7]. These authors also highlighted the importance for upscaling such activities but mentioned the need to address methodological, financial and institutional issues for further expansion.…”