Abstract
Crop genetic resources (CGRs) are crucial natural resource which ensure food or livelihood security of billions of people today as well as ensure future agricultural innovations. However, the CGR diversity remaining in in situ, particularly in subsistence farming is becoming extinct due to change in economic and technological development over time. An optimal funding strategy is required for conservation of these CGRs. In this paper, I have discussed an economic perspective on why and how the De Facto crop genetic resources (CGRs) diversity declines with changing economic and environmental context. The model maximizes the net revenue from the farmers land allocation strategy to different CGRs under economic and technical constraints with linear demand and cost functions. Furthermore, the model suggests how to minimize the cost of on farm conservation of these crop genetic resources in situ (or ex situ) without forfeiting farmer’s well-being in a changing perspective of economics and technology. The theoretical model developed in this study is employed to demonstrate the applicability for on farm conservation of rice genetic diversity in Nepal. The study suggests an optimal fund allocation strategy that minimizes the cost of conservation by (i) identifying particular CGRs (rice landraces) that are prone to extinct from the community and (ii) categorizing the farmers in the community having minimum cost of conservation for those particular landraces. As the model maximizes the farmers’ revenues, it could ensure better livelihood of individuals in the community while minimizing the cost of in situ conservation of biodiversity on farm.
Highlights
Crop genetic diversity, a subset of biodiversity, is defined as the diversity in crop genetic resources (CGRs) that are being cultivated by farming communities on their farm and the wild species that are potential for domestication [1]-[3]
This study suggests the de facto of crop genetic diversity in subsistence farming is governed by the economic and environmental constraints of the farmers in the community
Economic incentive is required to conserve these genetic diversities in the same community, a criteria suggested by Pascual et al [33] and United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) [31]
Summary
Crop genetic diversity (agrobiodiversity), a subset of biodiversity, is defined as the diversity in crop genetic resources (CGRs) that are being cultivated by farming communities on their farm and the wild species that are potential for domestication [1]-[3]. Large numbers of national and international agencies are employing many different strategies to conserve these resources in situ worldwide as suggested and promoted by the international treaties such as Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Most of these conservation approaches consider some non-economic incentives to the farmers such as creating awareness through trainings and granting right to the farmers for conservation [2] [20] [21]. It can be argued that with the increasing food requirement, availability of the high yielding variety (HYV), risk abatement technology and increased access to income sources, farmers will replace the local diversity with HYV, losing whole biodiversity if the net revenue increases from the latter option This justifies that the well-considered argument for conservation should be based on ecological grounds and on economic grounds [27] [28] because of the two reasons. As the model maximizes the farmers’ revenues, it could ensure better livelihood of individuals in the community while minimizing the cost of in situ conservation of biodiversity on farm
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