On-farm conservation of potato landraces in Ecuador

Abstract

Potato-landrace production systems have not been previously described in Ecuador. Accordingly, three areas of high potato diversity were identified using the passport data of samples collected during the 70s and 80s. Native potato diversity collected at these three locations during 2006-2008 was compared with the diversity at the same places approximately 30 years ago to determine the dynamics in the potato diversity. Additionally, potato-farmers growing landraces were interviewed and invited to local meetings to evaluate the vulnerability of their systems. When the earlier collections were compared with the 2006- 2008 collection, many landraces with new names were found. The low number of landraces common to the past and present collections might suggest that the sampling of local landraces was not exhaustive, both during the 1970s and 1980s and during the 2006-2008 collection trips. Mostly elderly people and small-scale farmers are currently maintaining potato landraces. Since farmers cannot live solely on the production of their farms, they look for income alternatives through migration. The vulnerability of the potato conservation varied between the study areas. External conservation interventions performed on-farm, such as diversity fairs or re-introduction of landraces, were highly appreciated by the farmers and could help preserve potato landraces.