Agro-biodiversity of Mediterranean crops: farmers' preferences in support of a conservation programme for olive landraces

Sardaro, Ruggiero; Girone, Stefania; Acciani, Claudio; Bozzo, Francesco; Petrontino, Alessandro; Fucilli, Vincenzo

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2016.06.033

Cited by 29 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 77 publications

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“…Indeed, olive tree cultivation and marketing of olive oil and table olives are major sources of employment and income in the Mediterranean Basin. For these reasons, many projects addressing the characterization, conservation and utilization of olive genetic resources have been recently funded by local administrations in several Mediterranean countries ( Sardaro et al, 2016 ). Genetic diversity represents a heritage of high scientific value and the availability of autochthonous germplasm can help to improve the long-term productivity potential of olive orchards and enhance the competitiveness of the sector in a globalized market.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…europaea , 2 n = 2 x = 46) is a primary crop in all the countries of the Mediterranean basin where most of the global production comes from Southern Europe, North Africa, and the Near East (FAOSTAT). The olive germplasm consists of a large number of varieties mainly used for oil or table olive production and each country has a wide panorama of autochthonous cultivated varieties and wild relatives that represents an enormous reservoir of biodiversity and a valuable economic resource ( Sardaro et al, 2016 ). Several studies have been performed to assess genetic diversity as a key action for the valorization of olive genetic resources.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Genetic flow among olive populations within the Mediterranean basin

Rienzo

Sion

Taranto

et al. 2018

PeerJ

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BackgroundThe olive tree is a typical crop of the Mediterranean basin where it shows a wide diversity, accounting for more than 2,600 cultivars. The ability to discriminate olive cultivars and determine their genetic variability is pivotal for an optimal exploitation of olive genetic resources.MethodsWe investigated the genetic diversity within 128 olive accessions belonging to four countries in the Mediterranean Basin (Italy, Algeria, Syria, and Malta), with the purpose of better understanding the origin and spread of the olive genotypes across Mediterranean Basin countries. Eleven highly polymorphic simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were used and proved to be very informative, producing a total of 179 alleles.ResultsCluster analysis distinguished three main groups according to their geographical origin, with the current sample of Maltese accessions included in the Italian group. Phylogenetic analysis further differentiated Italian and Maltese olive accessions, clarifying the intermediate position of Maltese accessions along the x/y-axes of principal coordinate analysis (PCoA). Model-based and neighbor clustering, PCoA, and migration analysis suggested the existence of two different gene pools (Algerian and Syrian) and that the genetic exchange occurred between the Syrian, Italian and Maltese populations.DiscussionThe close relationship between Syrian and Italian and Maltese olives was consistent with the historical domestication and migration of olive tree from the North Levant to eastern Mediterranean basin. This study lays the foundations for a better understanding of olive genetic diversity in the Mediterranean basin and represents a step toward an optimal conservation and exploitation of olive genetic resources.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic flow among olive populations within the Mediterranean basin

Rienzo

Sion

Taranto

et al. 2018

PeerJ

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“…During the last few decades, agrobiodiversity has reduced due to intensive monoculture farming (Matson et al 1997;Evenson and Gollen 2003;Sardaro et al 2016). About 80% of the world's arable land is planted with a handful of crops such as corn, wheat, rice, soyabean and others (Adams et al 1971;Heinemann et al 2013;Altieri et al 2015).…”

Section: Traditional Agriculture: Concept and Agroecological Featuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Traditional agriculture: a climate-smart approach for sustainable food production

Singh

2017

Energ. Ecol. Environ.

227

118

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Sustainable food production is one of the major challenges of the twenty-first century in the era of global environmental problems such as climate change, increasing population and natural resource degradation including soil degradation and biodiversity loss. Climate change is among the greatest threats to agricultural systems. Green Revolution though multiplied agricultural production several folds but at the huge environmental cost including climate change. It jeopardized the ecological integrity of agroecosystems by intensive use of fossil fuels, natural resources, agrochemicals and machinery. Moreover, it threatened the age-old traditional agricultural practices. Agriculture is one of the largest sectors that sustain livelihood to maximum number of people and contribute to climate change. Therefore, a climate-smart approach to sustainable food production is the need of hour. Traditional agriculture is getting increased attention worldwide in context of sustainable food production in changing climate. The present article advocates traditional agriculture as a climate-smart approach for the sustainable food production and also deliberates the correlation between climate change and agriculture.

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“…They find that the mean farmer WTA values for cultivating one of the minor millet varieties on 0.10 acres of land under monocropping ranges from 148.85 to 982.21 Rupees per year, depending on the millet variety (corresponding to about $3 and $21, respectively). Another group of studies have used discrete choice experiments to analyze farmer/cultivator preferences for crop diversity as part of a wider conservation program or for their own use [15][16][17].…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most of these past studies have focused on the value of crop diversity on-farm [14][15][16][17], while few have used stated preference techniques to investigate the value of crop diversity held ex situ in field collections, cold storage, and cryopreservation facilities [11]. Almost all of these studies also elicit the preferences of farmers or cultivators for the conservation of crop diversity, and not those of the general public (except for the case of consumer demand for direct use-not conservation-of traditional food products and varieties).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Valuation of Genebank Activities: Assessing Public Demand for Genetic Resource Conservation in the Czech Republic

Tyack

Ščasný

2018

Sustainability

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The use of diverse genetic resources to breed improved crop varieties has been a key driver of agricultural productivity improvements in the past century. At the same time, the adoption of modern varieties has contributed to substantial loss of traditional varieties. In this analysis, we estimate the social value provided by several proposed crop diversity conservation programs to be carried out by the Czech genebank system. We use a double-bounded dichotomous choice model to estimate the willingness-to-pay (WTP) for conserving additional crop varieties in the genebank for ten years using data collected through an online contingent valuation survey administered to a sample representative of the general Czech population (1037 respondents) and a smaller sub-sample representative of the agricultural region of South Moravia (500 respondents). Mean WTP was found to be about $9 for both the Czech and S. Moravian sub-samples, corresponding to country-wide benefits of ~$68 million. These benefits increase by 6–7% for every ten varieties conserved, implying total welfare benefits of ~$84 million for a program conserving the maximum number of 35 additional crop varieties offered in the experiment. The study illustrates an empirical approach of potential value for policymakers responsible for determining funding levels for genetic resource conservation.

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Agro-biodiversity of Mediterranean crops: farmers' preferences in support of a conservation programme for olive landraces

Cited by 29 publications

References 77 publications

Genetic flow among olive populations within the Mediterranean basin

Genetic flow among olive populations within the Mediterranean basin

Traditional agriculture: a climate-smart approach for sustainable food production

Social Valuation of Genebank Activities: Assessing Public Demand for Genetic Resource Conservation in the Czech Republic

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