Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T05:27:00.399Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Farmers' management of rice varietal diversity in the mid-hills of Nepal: implications for on-farm conservation and crop improvement

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2009

R. B. Rana ,
C. J. Garforth  and
B. R. Sthapit
R. B. Rana
Affiliation:
Local Initiatives for Biodiversity, Research and Development (LI-BIRD), PO Box 324, Pokhara, Nepal
C. J. Garforth
Affiliation:
University of Reading, PO Box 237, ReadingRG6 6AR, UK
B. R. Sthapit*
Affiliation:
Bioversity International, 3/10 Dharmashila Buddha Marg, Nadipur Patan, Pokhara, Nepal
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Season-long monitoring of on-farm rice (Oryza sativa, L.) plots in Nepal explored farmers' decision-making process on the deployment of varieties to agroecosystems, application of production inputs to varieties, agronomic practices and relationship between economic return and area planted per variety. Farmers deploy varieties [landraces (LRs) and modern varieties (MVs)] to agroecosystems based on their understanding of characteristics of varieties and agroecosystems, and the interaction between them. In marginal growing conditions, LRs can compete with MVs. Within an agroecosystem, economic return and area planted to varieties have positive relationship, but this is not so between agroecosystems. LRs are very diverse on agronomic and economic traits; therefore, they cannot be rejected a priori as inferior materials without proper evaluation. LRs have to be evaluated for useful traits and utilized in breeding programmes to generate farmer-preferred materials for marginal environments and for their conservation on-farm.

Keywords

crop improvementfarmer's decision makingintensive data plotslandraceon-farm conservationriceNepal
Type
Research Article
Information
Plant Genetic Resources , Volume 7 , Issue 1 , April 2009 , pp. 50 - 62
Copyright
Copyright © NIAB 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Atlin, GN, Cooper, M and Bjornstad, A (2001) A comparison of formal and participatory breeding approaches using selection theory. Euphytica 122: 463–475.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bajracharya, J (2003) Genetic diversity study in landraces of rice by agro-morphological characters and micro satellite DNA markers PhD Thesis, University of Wales, UK..Google Scholar
Bellon, MR (2008) Do we need crop landraces for the future? Realizing the global option value of in situ conservation. In: Kontoleon, A, Pascual, U and Smale, M (eds) Agrobiodiversity and Economic Development. USA: Routledge.Google Scholar
Brown, AHD and Hodgkin, T (2007) Measuring, managing and maintaining crop genetic diversity on farm. In: Jarvis, D, Padoch, C and Cooper, D (eds) Managing Biodiversity in Agricultural Ecosystems. New York: Colombian University Press, pp. 13–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brush, SB (1995) In situ conservation of landraces in centres of crop diversity. Crop Science 35: 346–354.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brush, SB and Meng, E (1998) Farmers' valuation and conservation of crop genetic resources. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 45: 139–150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brush, SB, Taylor, JE and Bellon, MR (1992) Technology adoption and biological diversity in Andean potato agriculture. Journal of Development Economics 2: 365–387.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Byerlee, D (1996) Modern varieties, productivity, and sustainability: recent experiences and emerging challenges. World Development 24: 697–718.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carpenter, D (2005) The in situ conservation of rice plant genetic diversity: a case study from a Philippine Barangay. Agriculture and Human Values 22: 421–434.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ceccarelli, S (2000) Wide adaptation: how wide? Euphytica(3): 197–205.Google Scholar
Chaudhary, P, Gauchan, D, Rana, RB, Sthapit, BR and Jarvis, DI (2004) Potential loss of rice landraces from a Terai community in Nepal: a case study from Kachorwa, Bara. Plant Genetic Resource Newsletter 137: 14–22.Google Scholar
Cleveland, DA, Soleri, D and Smith, SE (2000) A biological framework for understanding farmers' plant breeding. Economic Botany 54(3): 377–394.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dawson, JC, Murphy, KM and Jones, SS (2007) Decentralized selection and participatory approaches in plant breeding for low input systems. Euphytica doi:10.1007/s10681-007-9533-0.Google Scholar
Frankel, OH, Brown, AHD and Burdon, JJ (1995) The Conservation of Plant Biodiversity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Gorrez, FD Jr and Chaurasia, PCP (1997) Rice Production Guidelines: Non-Cash Input Technologies Hill Food Production Project, Nepal: DoA/MoA/HMG.Google Scholar
Gyawali, S, Joshi, KD, Tiwari, R, Shrestha, P, Joshi, B, Chaudhary, B, Mudwari, A, Baniya, B, Subedi, A, Bhandari, B, Upadhyay, MP, Tripathi, M, Adhikari, N, Shrestha, K and Sthapit, BR (2005 a) Participatory plant breeding: a strategy of in situ conservation of rice landraces. In: Sthapit, BR, Upadhyay, MP, Shrestha, PK and Jarvis, DI (eds) Proceeding of On-farm Conservation of Agricultural Biodiversity in Nepal. Vol. II. Managing Diversity and Promoting Its Benefits. Kathmandu: NARC, LI-BIRD and IPGRI, pp. 202–212.Google Scholar
Gyawali, S, Sthapit, BR, Bhandari, B, Gauchan, D, Joshi, B, Paudel, IP, Subedi, SR, Upadhyay, MP and Shrestha, PK (2005 b) Jethobudho enhancement I: a participatory method for on-farm management of agrobiodiversity. In: Sthapit, BR, Upadhyay, MP, Shrestha, PK and Jarvis, DI (eds) Proceeding of On-farm Conservation of Agricultural Biodiversity in Nepal. Vol. II. Managing Diversity and Promoting Its Benefits. Kathmandu: NARC, LI-BIRD and IPGRI, pp. 161–171.Google Scholar
Harlan, JR (1975) Our vanishing genetic resources. Science 188: 618–621.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hobbs, PR, Harrington, LW, Adhikari, C, Giri, GS, Upadhyay, SR and Adhikari, B (1996) Wheat and Rice in the Nepal Terai: Farm Resources and Production Practices in Rupandehi District, Nepal. Nepal: NARC and CIMMYT.Google Scholar
Hodgkin, T, Rao, VR and Riley, K (1993) Current issues in conserving crop landraces in situ Paper Presented at the On-farm Conservation Workshop, Indonesia, 6–8 December..Google Scholar
Horneburg, B and Becker, HC (2008) Crop adaptation in on-farm management by natural and conscious selection: a case study with lentil. Crop Science 48: 203–212.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jarvis, D and Hodgkin, T (2000) Farmer decision making and genetic diversity: linking multi-disciplinary research to implementation on-farm. In: Brush, S (ed.) Genes in the Field: On-farm Conservation of Crop Diversity. Boca Raton, FL: IPGRI, IDRC, and Lewis Publication, pp. 261–278.Google Scholar
Jarvis, D, Mayer, L, Klemick, H, Guarino, L, Smale, M, Brown, AHD, Sadiki, M, Sthapit, BR and Hodgkin, TA (2000) Training Guide for In Situ Conservation On-farm. Rome, Italy: IPGRI.Google Scholar
Jarvis, DI, Brown, AHD, Cuong, PH, Collado-Panduro, L, Latourniere-Moreno, L, Gyawali, S, Tanto, T, Sawadogo, M, Mar, I, Sadiki, M, Hue, NTN, Arias-Reyes, L, Balma, D, Bajracharya, J, Castillo, F, Rijal, D, Belqadi, L, Rana, R, Saidi, S, Ouedraogo, J, Zangre, R, de Santis, P, Fadda, C and Hodgkin, T (2008) A global perspective of the richness and evenness of traditional crop genetic diversity maintained by farming communities.: 1–6Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences PNAS (USA)www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.0800607105.Google Scholar
Joshi, GR and Bauer, S (2007) Cultivation and the loss of rice landraces in the Terai region of Nepal. Plant Genetic Resources: Characterization and Utilization 5(1): 1–6doi: 10.1017/S1479262107203788.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Khush, GS (1984) Terminology for Rice-growing Environments. Manila, Philippines: IRRI.Google Scholar
Kieft, J (2001) Indigenous variety development in food crops strategies on Timor: their relevance for in situ biodiversity conservation and food security. Indigenous Knowledge and Development Monitor, July 2001http://www.nuffic.nl/ciran/ikdm/9-2/kieft.html accessed date:04/09/2003.Google Scholar
McGuire, SJ (2007) Securing access to seed: social relations and sorghum seed exchange in Eastern Ethiopia. Human Ecology 36(2): 217–229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mulatu, E and Belete, K (2001) Participatory variety selection in lowland sorghum in eastern Ethiopia: impact on adoption and genetic diversity. Experimental Agriculture 37: 211–229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paudel, D, Chaudhary, P, Chowi, KR and Ghimire, H 2003 Case studies of seed production and marketing through farmers groups in Nepal. Discussion Paper No. 4. Bangor CAZS, UK and LI-BIRD, Pokhara, Nepal..Google Scholar
Perales, RH, Brush, SB and Qualset, CO (1998) Agronomic and economic competitiveness of maize landraces and in situ conservation in Mexico. In: Smale, M (ed.) Farmers, Gene Bank and Crop Breeding: Economic Analysis of Diversity in Wheat, Maize and Rice. USA: CIMMYT/Kluwer Academic Publisher.Google Scholar
Rana, RB (2004) Influence of socio-economic and cultural factors on agro-biodiversity conservation onfarm in Nepal. PhD thesis, IRDD, The University of Reading, UK..Google Scholar
Rana, RB and Sthapit, BR (2006) Intensive data plot for understanding farmer's decisions on management of agricultural biodiversity on farm. In: Sthapit, BR, Shrestha, PK and Upadhyay, MP (eds) Good Practices: On-farm Management of Agricultural Biodiversity in Nepal. Nepal: NARC, LI-BIRD, IPGRI and IDRC.Google Scholar
Rana, RB, Garforth, C, Jarvis, D and Sthapit, BR (2007 a) Influence of socio-economic and cultural factors in rice varietal diversity management on-farm in Nepal. Agriculture and Human Values 24(4): 461–472.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rana, RB, Garforth, CJ, Sthapit, BR, Subedi, A and Jarvis, DI (2007 b) On-farm management of rice genetic diversity: understanding farmers' knowledge on rice ecosystems and varietal deployment. Plant Genetic Resources Newsletter 152: 58–64.Google Scholar
Sadiki, M, Belqadi, L, Mahdi, M and Jarvis, D (2001) Identifying units of diversity management by comparing traits used by farmers to name and distinguish faba bean (Vicia faba L.) cultivars with measurements of genetic distinctiveness in Morocco Proceedings of the Legumed Symposium, Grain Legumes in the Mediterranean Agriculture, 25–27 October, Rabat, Morocco. Paris: AEP.Google Scholar
Sadiki, M, Jarvis, D, Rijal, D, Bajracharya, J, Hue, N, Camacho-Villa, T, Burgos-May, L, Sawadogo, M, Balma, D, Lope, D, Arias, L, Mar, I, Karamura, K, Williams, D, Chavez-Servia, J, Sthapit, B and Rao, VR (2007) Variety names: an entry point to crop genetic diversity and distribution in agroecosystems? In: Jarvis, D, Padoch, C and Cooper, D (eds) Managing Biodiversity in Agricultural Ecosystems. USA: Colombia University Press, pp. 12–34.Google Scholar
Science Council Secretariat Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) System Research Priorities 2005–2015, Science Council Secretariat 2005.Google Scholar
Smale, M, Bellon, M and Aguirre, A (2000) Maize diversity, variety attributes, and farmers' choices in southern Guanajuto, Mexico. Economic Development and Culture Change 50: 201–225.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smale, M, Bellon, M, Jarvis, D and Sthapit, B (2004) Economic concepts for designing policies to conserve crop genetic resources on-farms. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 51: 121–135.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sthapit, BR and Rao, VR (2007) Grassroots breeding: a way to optimise the use of local crop diversity for well-being of people Paper presented at the Tropentag Conference, 9–11 October, Witzenhausen, Germany..Google Scholar
Sthapit, BR, Joshi, KD and Witcombe, JR (1996) Farmer participatory crop improvement. III. Participatory plant breeding, a case study for rice in Nepal. Experimental Agriculture 32: 479–496.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sthapit, BR, Bajracharya, J, Subedi, A, Joshi, KD, Rana, RB, Khatiwada, SP, Gyawali, S, Chaudhary, P, Tiwari, T, Rijal, D, Shrestha, KP, Baniya, BK, Mudwari, A, Upadhyay, MP, Gauchan, D and Jarvis, D (2002) Enhancing on-farm conservation of traditional rice varieties in situ through PPB in three contrasting sites from Nepal. In: Witcombe, JR and Parr, LB (eds) Breeding Rainfed Rice for Drought-Prone Environments: Integrating Conventional and Participatory Plant Breeding in South and Southeast Asia. Proceedings of a DFID Plant Sciences Research Program/IRRI Conference, Los Banos, 12–15 March. Philippines: IRRI.Google Scholar
Sthapit, BR, Eyzaguirre, PE, Jarvis, DI and Rana, RB (2008) The value of genetic diversity to resource – poor farmers in Nepal and Vietnam. International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability 6(2): 148–166doi: 10.3763.ijas.2007.0291.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tripp, R, Louwaars, N, Joost van der Burg, W, Virk, DS and Witcombe, JR (1997) Alternatives for seed regulatory reform: an analysis of variety testing, variety regulation and seed quality control. Agricultural Administration (Research and Extension) Network Paper No. 69. London: ODI.Google Scholar
Virk, DS and Witcombe, JR (2006) Trade off between on-farm varietal diversity and highly client-oriented breeding: a case study of upland rice in India. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 54: 823–835.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Witcombe, JR, Joshi, A, Joshi, KD and Sthapit, BR (1996) Farmer participatory crop improvement. I. Varietal selection and breeding methods and their impact on biodiversity. Experimental Agriculture 32: 445–460.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Witcombe, JR, Joshi, KD, Gyawali, S, Musa, AM, Johansen, C, Virk, DS and Sthapit, BR (2005) Participatory plant breeding is better described as highly client-oriented plant breeding. I. Four indicators of client-orientation in plant breeding. Experimental Agriculture 41: 299–319.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wood, D and Lenne, JM (1997) The conservation of agrobiodiversity on-farm: questioning the emerging paradigm. Biodiversity and Conservation 6: 109–129.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zeven, AC (1998) Landraces: a review of definitions and classifications. Euphytica 104: 127–139.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zimmerer, KS (1996) Changing Fortunes: Biodiversity and Peasant livelihood in the Peruvian Andes. Berkeley: University of California Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar