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Just small potatoes (and ulluco)? The use of seed-size variation in “native commercialized” agriculture and agrobiodiversity conservation among Peruvian farmers

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  • Karl Zimmerer

Abstract

Farmers of the Peruvian Andesmake use of seed-size variation as a source offlexibility in the production of ``nativecommercial'' farmer varieties of Andeanpotatoes and ulluco. In a case study of easternCuzco, the use of varied sizes of seed tubers isfound to underpin versatile farm strategiessuited to partial commercialization (combinedwith on-farm consumption and the next season'sseed). Use of seed-size variation also providesadaptation to diverse soil-moistureenvironments. The importance and widespread useof seed-size variation among farmers isdemonstrated in the emphasis and consistency oflinguistic expressions about this trait. Smalland small-medium seed is typically sown in thecommunity's ``Hill'' unit of sub-humid,upper-elevation agriculture. Seed tubers ofmedium-size and larger are needed fordrought-stressed locales in lower-elevationlandscape units. Farm-level preferences for theseed-size of tubers also suggest potentialrelations to resource endowments of farmhouseholds and gender-related management,although these tendencies were notstatistically significant in the study. Anintra-varietal, landscape-environmentalperspective on seed-size management, whichincludes an emphasis on within-fieldversatility, helps to strengthen the researchsupport of local seed production in policiesand programs aiming for in situagrobiodiversity conservation, marketingcapacity, and food security. Copyright Kluwer Academic Publishers 2003

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  • Karl Zimmerer, 2003. "Just small potatoes (and ulluco)? The use of seed-size variation in “native commercialized” agriculture and agrobiodiversity conservation among Peruvian farmers," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 20(2), pages 107-123, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:20:y:2003:i:2:p:107-123
    DOI: 10.1023/A:1024097008693
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Nordhagen, Stella & Pascual, Unai & Drucker, Adam G., 2021. "Gendered differences in crop diversity choices: A case study from Papua New Guinea," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    2. Conny J. M. Almekinders & Steve Walsh & Kim S. Jacobsen & Jorge L. Andrade-Piedra & Margaret A. McEwan & Stef Haan & Lava Kumar & Charles Staver, 2019. "Why interventions in the seed systems of roots, tubers and bananas crops do not reach their full potential," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 11(1), pages 23-42, February.
    3. Nordhagen, Stella & Pascual, Unai & Drucker, Adam G., 2017. "Feeding the Household, Growing the Business, or Just Showing Off? Farmers' Motivations for Crop Diversity Choices in Papua New Guinea," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 99-109.

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