Crop Interdependence, Adaptation to Climate Change and the Multilateral Systems of Access and Benefit Sharing: The Case of Nepal

Abstract

Improving farmers’ access to more plant diversity is expected to be an effective strategy to respond to climate changes. Degrees of current crop interdependency were estimated based on the origin and pedigree analysis of modern varieties of rice, wheat and potato cultivated in Nepal. Geographical information system (GIS) was applied to identify germplasm from the global and national gene pools with respect to current and future climate analogue sites. In Nepal, 76% of 275 released varieties originated outside Nepal. Forty seven landraces originating in 12 countries were used to develop 20 mid-and high-hills rice cultivars and 35 landraces originating in 11 countries were used to develop 28 Tarai rice cultivars. Only exotic parents were used to develop 35 modern wheat varieties; 89 ancestors originated in 22 countries, mostly from the United States (13%), India (13%), France (12%), Argentina (6%), and Italy (6%). Only exotic parents were used to develop eight modern varieties of potato. Nepal is 95–100% dependent on foreign germplasm for varietal development. Using the Climate Analogue Tool (CAT), the analysis identified current, future, and past analogue sites within and outside Nepal, suggesting that there might be useful genetic materials that could be exchanged between such regions. To do so, Nepal has to be capable to make better use of the MLS-ITPGRFA. Right now more than 2500 genotypes of rice, wheat and potato are introduced annually for field evaluation in Nepal. This number could be increased with a fully operational MLS.