Dynamic guardianship of potato landraces by Andean communities and the genebank of the International Potato Center

Abstract

Background Potato landraces (Solanum spp.) are not only crucial for food security and sustenance in Andean communities but are also deeply rooted in the local culture. The crop originated in the Andes, and while a great diversity of potato persists, some landraces have been lost. Local communities and the genebank of the International Potato Center (CIP) partnered to re-establish some of these landraces in situ by supplying clean seed potatoes to farmers. Over time, the genebank formalized a repatriation program of potato landraces. Repatriation is the process of returning native germplasm back to its place of origin, allowing a dynamic exchange between ex situ and in situ conditions. So far, no comprehensive description of CIP’s repatriation program, the changes it induced, nor its benefits, has been carried out. Methods We addressed this research gap by analyzing CIP genebank distribution data for repatriated accessions, conducting structured interviews with experts of the repatriation program, and applying duration and benefit analyses to a survey dataset of 301 households. Results Between 1997 and 2020, 14,950 samples, representing 1519 accessions, were distributed to 135 communities in Peru. While most households (56%) abandoned the repatriated material by the fourth year after receiving it, the in situ survival probability of the remaining material stabilized between 36% in year 5 and 18% in year 15. Households where the plot manager was over 60 years old were more likely to grow the repatriated landraces for longer periods of times. While male plot management decreased survival times compared to female plot management, higher levels of education, labor force, wealth, food insecurity, and geographic location in the southern part of Peru were associated with greater survival times. Most farmers reported nutritional and cultural benefits as reasons for maintaining landrace material. Repatriated potatoes enabled farmers to conserve potato diversity, and hence, re-establish and broaden culinary diversity and traditions. Conclusions Our study is the first to apply an economic model to analyze the duration of in situ landrace cultivation by custodian farmers. We provide an evidence base that describes the vast scope of the program and its benefits.

Overcoming Challenges for Shoot Tip Cryopreservation of Root and Tuber Crops

“…However, the maintenance and management of such field collections are expensive and are at risk of losses from attacks by pests, diseases, and environmental disasters [23,43]. Thus, over time, farming communities have lost unique accessions of RTCs due to susceptibility to these biotic and abiotic stresses [23,44]. Thanks to the strong partnership between CIP and local communities in the Peruvian Andes, the lost potato landraces were successfully reintroduced.…”

“…This collaboration allows for a dynamic exchange between the ex situ and in situ conservations. Healthy and valuable landraces are returned to local communities, and in exchange landraces identified from these communities are safely stored in the CIP genebank [44].…”

With Endless Articulations

“…There are ongoing efforts to collaborate with Indigenous communities in the repatriation or 'rematriation' of traditional crop varieties, most famously in relation to Peru's Potato Park (cf. Lüttringhaus et al 2021). In 2018, as part of my research to map out the network of seed banks, I spoke with Alfonso del Rio, a research scientist responsible for tasks related to genome data crunching, at the US Potato Genebank (USPG) research lab in Madison, Wisconsin.…”

Screening Potato Landraces to Cope with Climate Change in the Central Andes of Peru

“…Native potato landraces are genotypes adapted and maintained by farmers under heterogeneous conditions in the Andes [9]. Being strongly embedded in the local culture, these varieties constitute the backbone of food security and subsistence in the Andean region [11], especially in Peru, where there are around 6000 communities of small-scale farmers [12].…”