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Landraces in situ Conservation: A Case Study in High-Mountain Home Gardens in Vall Fosca, Catalan Pyrenees, Iberian Peninsula1

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Abstract

Landraces in situ Conservation: A Case Study in High-Mountain Home Gardens in Vall Fosca, Catalan Pyrenees, Iberian Peninsula. Interest in landrace conservation has grown over the last few decades with much research focusing on the maintenance of on-farm crop genetic diversity in the tropics. Research on landraces is less abundant in temperate climates. In this paper we assess landrace conservation status in home gardens in Vall Fosca (Catalan Pyrenees, Iberian Peninsula). We estimate the individual socio-demographic attributes associated with in situ conservation of landraces and explore the reasons for their conservation. Fieldwork was conducted March–September 2008, during which time we surveyed 60 home gardens, owned by 53 tenders from 16 villages. We recorded occurrence, abundance, uses, and management of plants cultivated in home gardens. We also inquired about the informants’ reasons for conserving landraces. We found 148 different species. We identified 39 landraces corresponding to 31 species. Women, people over 65 years of age, experienced gardeners, and people who grow their home garden organically were more likely to conserve landraces than people without those characteristics. Although the informants express a strong preference for landraces, they mainly grow commercial varieties. Landraces seem to be displaced by less labor-intensive commercial varieties.

Conservación in situ de Cultivos de Gestión Local: Estudio de Caso en Huertos de Alta Montaña de la Vall Fosca, Pirineos Catalanes, Península Ibèrica. Las últimas décadas han visto un aumento del interés en la conservación de cultivos de gestión local, con la investigación centrándose especialmente en el mantenimiento in situ de la agrobiodiversidad en los trópicos. La investigación sobre los cultivos de gestión local es menos abundante en climas templados. En este artículo evaluamos el estado de conservación de cultivos de gestión local en huertos de la Vall Fosca (Pirineo catalán, Península Ibérica). Estimamos la asociación entre atributos socio-demográficos de la persona y la conservación in situ de los cultivos de gestión local y exploramos las razones de su conservación. Entre los meses de marzo y setiembre del año 2008 se estudiaron 60 huertos, regentados por 53 hortolanos. Registramos la ocurrencia, abundancia, usos, y gestión de todas las plantas cultivadas en los huertos. También preguntamos a los informantes sus razones para conservar los cultivos de gestión local. Encontramos 148 especies diferentes, e identificamos 39 cultivos de gestión local correspondientes a 31 especies. Las mujeres, las personas mayores de 65 años, los hortelanos expertos, y las personas que gestionan su huerto de forma orgánica tienden a conservar más cultivos de gestión local que las personas sin estas características. Aunque los informantes expresaron una fuerte preferencia hacia los cultivos de gestión local, principalmente cultivaban variedades comerciales. Parece que los cultivos de gestión local han sido desplazados por variedades comerciales más fáciles de cultivar.

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Acknowledgements

Research was funded by the Programa de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades del Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (MEC-España) (SEJ2007–60873/SOCI), the Agència de Gestió d’Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca (AGAUR), and the Centre de Promoció de la Cultura Popular i Tradicional Catalana (CPCTC) (Generalitat de Catalunya). L. Calvet-Mir acknowledges financial support from a FPU grant of the MEC-España (AP–2006–01849). We thank the tenders who collaborated in the project. We also thank Laura Aceituno, Teresa Garnatje, Juan José Lastra, Montserrat Parada, Manuel Pardo, Montserrat Rigat, Joan Vallès, and Sara Vila for help in the identification of species and comments to previous versions of this work. Three anonymous reviewers also provided useful comments. Thanks also go to Samuel Pyke for English editing and to Laia Echániz and Daniel Corbacho for help with the figures.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Laura Calvet-Mir, Maria Calvet-Mir & Laura Vaqué-Nuñez

  2. ICREA and Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Victoria Reyes-García

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  1. Laura Calvet-Mir
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  2. Maria Calvet-Mir
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  3. Laura Vaqué-Nuñez
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  4. Victoria Reyes-García
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Correspondence to Laura Calvet-Mir.

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Calvet-Mir, L., Calvet-Mir, M., Vaqué-Nuñez, L. et al. Landraces in situ Conservation: A Case Study in High-Mountain Home Gardens in Vall Fosca, Catalan Pyrenees, Iberian Peninsula1 . Econ Bot 65, 146–157 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12231-011-9156-1

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