Dynamic management of crop diversity: From an experimental approach to on-farm conservation

Enjalbert, Jérôme; Dawson, Julie; Paillard, Sophie; Rhoné, Bénédicte; Rousselle, Yves; Thomas, Mathieu; Goldringer, Isabelle

doi:10.1016/j.crvi.2011.03.005

Cited by 70 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Soybean had a high preference among the household as a substitute for beans and its commercial use in various industries. These findings concur with a similar study carried out in Nepal where smallholder farms were mainly dominated by staple food crops [20].…”

Section: Agrobiodiversity In Smallholder Farmssupporting

confidence: 82%

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Agrobiodiversity conservation enhances food security in subsistence-based farming systems of Eastern Kenya

et al. 2016

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Background: Globally, there is great concern about expanding agricultural activities due to their impact in the conservation of agrobiodiversity. African continent is known for its richness in biodiversity. In Kenya, there is a continuous unabated expansion of agriculture into natural habitats due to demographic and economic pressures posing a significant threat to biodiversity. Therefore, there is a need to study biodiversity loss and its regain through practices in agricultural landscapes. In this study, we assessed the status of agrobiodiversity and its contribution to food security in four agroecological zones of Eastern Kenya. Sixty households were sampled from two selected agroecological zones (upper and lower midland zones) in Embu and Tharaka-Nithi counties. Structured questionnaires and checklists were used to collect the data.Results: Thirty-nine crop species were identified dominated by vegetables, fruits, legumes and cereals with relative densities of 28.8, 20.5, 18.3 and 8.3 %, respectively. Embu Lower Midland and Tharaka-Nithi Lower Midland zones had relatively higher crop species richness of 243 and 240, respectively, and Shannon-Wiener diversity indices (H′) of 3.403 and 3.377, respectively, compared with Embu Upper Midland and Tharaka-Nithi Upper Midland zones with species richness of 229 and 207, respectively, and H′ of 3.298 and 3.204, respectively. Conclusions:Households from lower midland zones with high crop diversity and richness were more food secure compared with those from the Upper Midland zones with low crop diversity and richness. These findings suggest that farm production systems with high agrobiodiversity contributed more toward food security among smallholder farmers in the selected sites.

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Section: Agrobiodiversity In Smallholder Farmssupporting

confidence: 82%

“…Commercialization of native crop varieties, tree products, indigenous fruits, medicinal plants among others can generate income to smallholder farmers, thus improving their living standards [20]. Resource-poor local smallholder farmers also depend entirely on agrobiodiversity for health and nutrition by growing different crop varieties.…”

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confidence: 99%

Agrobiodiversity conservation enhances food security in subsistence-based farming systems of Eastern Kenya

et al. 2016

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“…Dynamic management of genetic resources, achieved through the cultivation of genetically diverse populations such as CCPs, subjected to different environments and selective pressures, provides an excellent complementary tool with which to conserve the genetic diversity of agricultural crops (Paillard et al, 2000;Goldringer et al, 2001Goldringer et al, , 2006Porcher et al, 2004;Phillips and Wolfe, 2005;Döring et al, 2011). In addition, CCPs are widely used as a resource for selection (Clark et al, 2006;Jackson, 2011;Enjalbert et al, 2011;Goldringer et al, 2001Goldringer et al, , 2006Döring et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolutionary changes of weed competitive traits in winter wheat composite cross populations in organic and conventional farming systems

Bertholdsson

Weedon

Brumlop

et al. 2016

European Journal of Agronomy

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a b s t r a c tSeedling root and shoot growth in hydroponics and allelopathic activity using a bioassay have been studied in very diverse populations of winter wheat grown under either organic or conventional conditions for a number of generations and subjected only to natural selection. The study was conducted on seeds from generation 6 (F 6 ) and 11 (F 11 ) from three composite cross populations (CCPs) produced by the Organic Research Centre in the UK. Since the F 5 the populations were maintained under organic and conventional conditions in Germany. Two parallel populations were created from each CC, resulting in a total of six organic and six conventional CCPs. The sets of parallel populations showed similar evolutionary trends indicating that the observed changes are related to differences in management rather than chance. Seedling root length and seedling root and shoot weight in the F 11 of the organically-managed CCPs were significantly greater than in the organic F 6 CCPs. In the conventionally-managed CCPs no such differences were observed. Both organic and conventional CCPs produced for quality showed higher early root and shoot growth than those produced for yield pointing to genetic differences among population types and highlighting the importance of early vigour for NUE. There were no significant differences in the allelopathic activity of the populations and between generations. The Shannon-Weaver diversity indices were similar for the studied traits in organic and conventional CCPs and hence no major changes in diversity had occurred between F 6 to F 11 . As changes in plant height were small and weed pressure in the fields low it is concluded that the observed differences are more related to NUE, rather than intra-specific competition for light or the direct effect of increased weed pressure in the organic system.

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“…In addition to contributing to the development of well-adapted varieties, the conservation of genetic diversity within varieties is also important to maintain the adaptive potential of these varieties. Contrasted selection pressures over multiple farms will preserve the greatest level of diversity at the meta-population level (i.e., considering all the farms together), even if each population loses a portion of its initial diversity in the process of selection for local adaptation [24][25][26][27][28]. Selection and conservation objectives benefit from the ability to evaluate and use the widest range of genetic diversity available.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Collaborative Plant Breeding for Organic Agricultural Systems in Developed Countries

Dawson

Rivière

Berthellot³

et al. 2011

Sustainability

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Because organic systems present complex environmental stress, plant breeders may either target very focused regions for different varieties, or create heterogeneous populations which can then evolve specific adaptation through on-farm cultivation and selection. This often leads to participatory plant breeding (PPB) strategies which take advantage of the specific knowledge of farmers. Participatory selection requires increased commitment and engagement on the part of the farmers and researchers. Projects may begin as researcher initiatives with farmer participation or farmer initiatives with researcher participation and over time evolve into true collaborations. These projects are difficult to plan in advance because by nature they change to respond to the priorities and interests of the collaborators. Projects need to provide relevant information and analysis in a time-frame that Sustainability 2011, 3 1207 is meaningful for farmers, while remaining scientifically rigorous and innovative. This paper presents two specific studies: the first was a researcher-designed experiment that assessed the potential adaptation of landraces to organic systems through on-farm cultivation and farmer selection. The second is a farmer-led plant breeding project to select bread wheat for organic systems in France. Over the course of these two projects, many discussions among farmers, researchers and farmers associations led to the development of methods that fit the objectives of those involved. This type of project is no longer researcher-led or farmer-led but instead an equal collaboration. Results from the two research projects and the strategy developed for an ongoing collaborative plant breeding project are discussed.

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Dynamic management of crop diversity: From an experimental approach to on-farm conservation

Cited by 70 publications

References 47 publications

Agrobiodiversity conservation enhances food security in subsistence-based farming systems of Eastern Kenya

Agrobiodiversity conservation enhances food security in subsistence-based farming systems of Eastern Kenya

Evolutionary changes of weed competitive traits in winter wheat composite cross populations in organic and conventional farming systems

Collaborative Plant Breeding for Organic Agricultural Systems in Developed Countries

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