Abstract
The study was conducted in the districts of Huacrachuco and San Pedro de Cholon, province of Maranon and Huanuco region. The aim of the study was to describe the in-situ conservation and ethno-botanical indicators of the phenotypic variability of Arracacha (Arracacia xanthorrhiza Bancroft), Yacon (Smallanthus sonchifolius H. Robinson) and wild relatives. Work was done in the farmers’ plots where they preserved from one to three morphotypes of A. xanthorrhiza and S. sonchifolius, and farmer communities where preserved wild plant relatives. A total of thirteen farmers from three farmer communities in the Huarachuco district, and nine from two farmer communities in the district of San Pedro de Cholon were selected. Six in-situ conservation and three ethno-botanical indicators were described. By using morphological descriptors 23 samples of grown arracacha and 34 of grown yacon, three samples each of wild arracacha and yacon were characterized. Based on this characterization, results were as follow: three different morphotypes of grown arracacha for 21 descriptors, four different morphotypes of grown yacon for 18 descriptors, two ecotypes of wild arracacha (the low field ecotype located in a range of altitude of 2500 to 2750 meters above sea level and the height field ecotype located above 3530 m.a.s.l.) and two ecotypes of wild yacon (yellow and red ecotypes).
Highlights
In Peru there are 1 060 species of Pteridophytas, 24 Gymnosperms and 17 119 Angiosperms (Zúñiga 2004)
According to the CBD (2000), around 34,000 species of plants and 5,200 animal species would be in danger of extinction, 45% of natural forests have disappeared, 30% of races of the main domestic animal species are exposed to a high risk of extinction and some species disappear at a rate between 50 to 100 times higher than the natural rate
The methodology consisted of three procedures: i) Participatory planning, the scope of the study was socialized in each district through workshops with authorities and leading farmers of the conservationist communities (CC); in focus groups by communities, preliminary information on in situ, ethnobotanical conservation and wild ecotypes of arracacha and yacon was collected (Madriz, 2000)
Summary
In Peru there are 1 060 species of Pteridophytas, 24 Gymnosperms and 17 119 Angiosperms (Zúñiga 2004) These species would have originated about 80 thousand years ago, since they are in permanent evolution (Tapia, 2001). Peasants are left without resources and the productivity of agroecosystems decreases in time and space, compromising food security and sovereignty in rural and urban areas. This context, motivated the creation of a Conservation Program of these resources for future generations (Brush, 2003). This article describes the in situ and ethnobotanical conservation indicators of the phenotypic variability of the arracacha, the yacon and its wild relatives from the province of Huacrachuco, Huánuco
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