Community Perspectives on the On-Farm Diversity of Six Major Cereals and Climate Change in Bhutan

Abstract

Subsistence Bhutanese farmers spread across different agro-ecological zones maintain large species and varietal diversity of different crops in their farm. However, no studies have been undertaken yet to assess why farmers conserve and maintain large agro-biodiversity, the extent of agro-ecological richness, species richness, estimated loss of traditional varieties and threats to the loss of on-farm agro-biodiversity. Information on the number of varieties cultivated by the farmers for six important staple crops were collected from nine districts and twenty sub-districts spread across six different agro-ecological zones of the country to understand farmers reasons for maintaining on-farm crop diversity, estimate OPEN ACCESSAgriculture 2015, 5 3 agro-ecological richness, species richness and the overall loss of traditional varieties, to know the famers' level of awareness on climate change and the different threats to crop diversity. The results from this study indicated that an overwhelming 93% of the respondents manage and use agro-biodiversity for household food security and livelihood. The average agro-ecological richness ranged from 1.17 to 2.26 while the average species richness ranged from 0.50 to 2.66. The average agro-ecological richness indicates a large agro-ecological heterogeneity in terms of the different species of staple crops cultivated. The average species richness on the other hand shows that agro-ecological heterogeneity determines the type and extent of the cultivation of the six different staple cereals under consideration. The overall loss of traditional varieties in a time period of 20 years stands at 28.57%. On climate change, 94% of the farmers recognize that local climate is changing while 86% responded that they are aware of the potential impacts of climate change on their livelihoods. Climate change and associated factors was considered the most imminent threat to the management and loss of on-farm agro-biodiversity. The results from this study indicate that on-farm agro-biodiversity conservation, development and utilization programs have to be more specific to the different agro-ecological zones considering the agro-ecological heterogeneity. Attention has to be given to individual crops that have low average species richness and high percentage of loss of traditional varieties. The impact of climate change could offset the traditional seed system which primarily supports the persistence of on-farm agro-biodiversity in several ways.

First adaptation of quinoa in the Bhutanese mountain agriculture systems

“…Owing to the topography dominated by high mountains and deep valleys, there is a wide variation of microclimate, which requires highly location specific crops and varieties. Many of these crops, varieties and livestock breeds, are best adapted to marginal mountain farming environments for which finding suitable replacements are not straightforward [23].…”

First Adaptation of Quinoa in the Bhutanese Mountain Agriculture Systems

“…Owing to the topography dominated by high mountains and deep valleys there is a wide variation of micro climate which requires highly location specific crops and varieties. Many of these crops, varieties and livestock breeds are best adapted to a marginal mountain farming environment for which finding suitable replacements are not straightforward (Katwal et al, 2015).…”

Climate change and potential impacts on agriculture in Bhutan: a discussion of pertinent issues

“…The generalized land use categories are kamzhing (dryland), chuzhing (terraced rice fields) and horticulture (orchards and plantation crops) with per cent land coverage of 61.90%, 27.86% and 10.24% of the agricultural land, respectively [5]. Bhutanese farmers, in general, are small holders who practice sustainable integrated and subsistence agricultural farming system [31]. The average land holding of each farmer is just 1.4 ha [4], and they grow a variety of crops under different farming practices, including rearing of livestock to meet their household food security.…”

“…Farmers' low land holdings and subsistence level of production make it even more sensitive to the impacts of climate change. Loss of traditional genetic resources has been reported in terms of both crop species and varieties [31], thus increasing vulnerability of Bhutan's farming to the climatic shocks. Loss of farm diversity and its vulnerability is evident from the steady decrease in area and production of dryland crops.…”