On-farm conservation of crop diversity: A case study of landraces from Western Ghats of Karnataka, India

Abstract

Landraces cultivated in four districts of Karnataka spread across Central Western Ghats, India were systematically documented. A snowball sampling approach was adopted to identify the custodian farmers. As many as 917 landraces belonging to 62 different crops from the target area could be documented. Sites were not uniform with respect to species richness and landrace diversity. The study could identify the critical factors that determine on-farm conservation as (i) suitability to regional conditions, (ii) relevance in regional cuisine and the local medicinal practices, (iii) cultural and traditional significance and (iv) the economic advantage. In order to promote the use of landraces and ensure their availability for future generations, custodian farmers were found to freely share their seeds. Factors unfavorable to on-farm conservation practice included the popularity of high-yielding varieties, inadequate market for native cultivars, inadequate dissemination of knowledge about landraces and their special uses, lack of interest among youth towards traditional agriculture, dearth of genuine seeds and relative low yields. The information documented in this study is expected to promote conservation and marketing of landraces as well as their use in breeding programmes.