Understanding and using crop genetic resources conserved in situ
In situ conservation is concerned with maintaining plant populations in the habitats in which they occur. For agricultural crops, in situ conservation refers to the habitat where the crops developed their distinctive properties, predominantly in farmers fields, or on-farm. To promote the conservation of crop diversity in this context, IPGRI has a global project to enhance and support a framework of knowledge about farmers' decision-making processes that influence in situ conservation of agricultural biodiversity and to strengthen national capacity to plan and implement on-farm conservation programmes. The project involves nine countries around the world and a wide group of actors and stakeholders, such as farmers, communities, NGOs, universities and other research centers.
Mexico and Peru are participating in the global on-farm conservation project. In Mexico, local varieties of maize, beans, squash and chili peppers are being studied in a community of traditional Mayan farmers on the Yucatan Peninsula, where slash-and-burn agriculture is practiced. In Peru, local varieties of maize, cassava, peanut and hot peppers are being studied in indigenous Shipibo farming communities located in the Amazonian lowlands.
IPGRI is also conducting a research project to evaluate the role of home gardens as viable conservation areas within farming systems and to link the income and nutritional benefits of home gardens with conservation. The project aims to develop strategies for conservation through use, which would help families enhance the benefits from home gardens while maintaining their unique crop genetic diversity. In the Americas, project teams are collecting data about the agrobiodiversity of home gardens in Guatemala, Venezuela and Cuba, and the limitations that farmers face to maintain them.
In situ conservation of agricultural biodiversity
On-farm conservation of agricultural biodiversity
Conservation of wild crop relatives in natural ecosystems
IPGRI publications on in situ and on-farm conservation
