Integrating traditional crop genetic diversity for mountain food security

Introduction brochure to the project 'Integrating Traditional Crop Genetic Diversity into Technology: Using a Biodiversity Portfolio Approach to Buffer against Unpredictable Environmental Change in the Nepal Himalayas'. The project aims to contribute to the conservation of globally important crop biodiversity, which form the basis for food security in areas of high environmental instability and variability in many high-elevation agricultural systems throughout the world. It is implemented by UNEP and executed by Bioversity International, NARC, DoA and LI-BIRD

Gambler's Fallacy: A Gambler's Dilemma

The gambler’s fallacy, also known as the Monte Carlo fallacy or the fallacy of the maturity of chances, is the mistaken belief that, if something happens more frequently than normal during a given period, it will happen less frequently in the future. It may also be stated as the belief that, if something happens less frequently than normal during a given period, it will happen more frequently in the future. In situations where the outcome being observed is truly random and consists of independent trials of a random process, this belief is false. The fallacy can arise in many situations, but is most strongly associated with gambling, where it is common among players

A guide to the identification and importance of custodian farmers

We often talk about custodian farmers; several countries recognized them by facilitating awards and we often interact with them about what they do on their farm? However, some questions remain, “what do we really mean by custodian farmers?", “what are the characteristics of such custodian farmers?”, "what role they for on-farm and in situ conservation projects and beyond?", “what potential roles they can play?” This guide aims to help practitioners to identify and document such farmers in a systematic manner for better understanding and to enable targeted support towards custodian farmers?

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

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

Safeguarding local crop knowledge: the use of community biodiversity registers

This brief presents suggestions for the design and use of a community biodiversity register as a practical tool for communities to: (i) establish an inventory to allow monitoring of crop diversity and to document its associated farmer (traditional) knowledge, (ii) generate a collective sense of community empowerment and ownership of genetic resources as a way to decentralize their management and conservation, and (iii) provide a record of the knowledge and uses of local biodiversity that can prevent biopiracy and enable the equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources. Examples from Nepal and South Africa are given

Bancos comunitarios de semillas: origenes, evolucion y perspectivas

Los bancos comunitarios de semillas aparecieron por primera vez hacia finales de la decada de 1980 y fueron establecidos con el apoyo de organizaciones no gubernamentales internacionales y nacionales. Este libro es el primero en proporcionar una revision global de su desarrollo e incluye un amplio rango de estudios de caso