Esta serie de libros está publicada por Earthscan, en asocio con Bioversity International. La met... more Esta serie de libros está publicada por Earthscan, en asocio con Bioversity International. La meta de la serie es revisar el estado actual del conocimiento sobre temas de actualidad relacionados con la biodiversidad agrícola, identificar brechas en nuestra base de conocimiento, sintetizar lecciones aprendidas y proponer acciones futuras de investigación y desarrollo. El objetivo general es aumentar el uso sostenible de la biodiversidad para mejorar el bienestar de los pueblos, y la seguridad alimentaria y la nutrición. Esta serie abarca todos los aspectos de la biodiversidad agrícola, desde la conservación biológica de los recursos genéticos, pasando por las ciencias sociales hasta aspectos legales y de políticas. Incluye también los campos de investigación, educación, comunicación y coordinación, manejo de información e intercambio de conocimientos.
Although community level seed-saving initiatives have been around for about 30 years, until recen... more Although community level seed-saving initiatives have been around for about 30 years, until recently they have received little attention in the scientific literature on climate change adaptation and plant genetic resources. Based on research experiences from various countries, this article argues that community seed banks can enhance the resilience of farmers, in particular of communities and households most affected by climate change. Community seed banks can secure improved access to, and availability of, diverse, locally adapted crops and varieties, and enhance related indigenous knowledge and skills in plant management, including seed selection, treatment, storage, multiplication, and distribution.
" What is needed today is to understand and implement different and innovative approaches – far d... more " What is needed today is to understand and implement different and innovative approaches – far different from the conventional green revolution type of crop improvement. This book shows the way to make this a reality. It demonstrates how to integrate the innovation of smallholder farmers into large-scale research for development by selecting farmers' best fruit varieties, employing locally developed good practices and restoring degraded lands with diverse fruit species that at the same time sustainably improve the diets of the poor. "-—From the foreword by Ann Tutwiler, Director General, Bioversity International F armers have developed a range of agricultural practices to sustainably use and maintain a wide diversity of crop species in many parts of the world. This book documents good practices innovated by farmers and collects key reviews on good practices from global experts, not only from the case study countries but also from Brazil, China and other parts of Asia and Latin America. A good practice for diversity is defined as a system, organization or process that, over time and space, maintains, enhances and creates crop genetic diversity, and ensures its availability to and from farmers and other users. Drawing on experiences from a UNEP-GEF project on " Conservation and Sustainable Use of Wild and Cultivated Tropical Fruit Tree Diversity for Promoting Livelihoods, Food Security and Ecosystem Services " , with case studies from India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, the authors show how methods for identifying good practices are still evolving and challenges in scaling-up remain. They identify key principles effective as a strategy for mainstreaming good practice into development efforts. Few books draw principles and lessons learned from good practices. This book fills this gap by combining good practices from the research project on tropical fruit trees with chapters from external experts to broaden its scope and relevance.
This book uses some key terms that need to be defined at the outset for better understanding and ... more This book uses some key terms that need to be defined at the outset for better understanding and discussion. Before we discuss 'good practices in the management and use of tropical fruit tree diversity', it is important to understand the wider context in which such practices take place, as some of them are relatively new concepts. Some well-accepted concepts are also included for clarity with respect to tropical fruit trees.
Bioversity International is a global research-for-development organization. We have a vision -tha... more Bioversity International is a global research-for-development organization. We have a vision -that agricultural biodiversity nourishes people and sustains the planet.
Garcinia gummi-gutta (L.) Roxb. (Clusiaceae) is an endemic, semidomesticated, fruit-yielding tree... more Garcinia gummi-gutta (L.) Roxb. (Clusiaceae) is an endemic, semidomesticated, fruit-yielding tree species distributed in the Western Ghats of India and Sri Lanka. Various bioactive phytochemicals, such as garcinol, benzophenones and xanthones are isolated from G. gummi-gutta and have shown antibacterial, antiviral and antioxidant activities. We sequenced the total genomic DNA using Illumina Hiseq 2000 platform and examined 241,141,804 bp high quality data, assembled into 773,889 contigs. In these contigs, 27,313 simple-sequence repeats (SSRs) were identified, among which mononucleotide repeats were predominant (44.98%) followed by dinucleotide and trinucleotide repeats. Primers were designed for 9964 microsatellites among which 32 randomly selected SSR primer pairs were standardized for amplification. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of genomic DNA in 30 G. gummi-gutta genotypes revealed polymorphic information content (PIC) across all 32 loci ranging from 0.867 to 0.951, with a mean value of 0.917. The observed and expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.00 to 0.63 and 0.896 to 0.974, respectively. Alleles per locus ranged from 12 to 27. This is the first report on the development of genomic SSR markers in G. gummi-gutta using next-generation sequencing technology. The genomic SSR markers developed in this study will be useful in identification, mapping, diversity and breeding studies.
Aromatic pickle-mango types, locally termed as 'Appemidi', are extensively collected for househol... more Aromatic pickle-mango types, locally termed as 'Appemidi', are extensively collected for household use and for commerce from the wild habitats even today in the central Western Ghats, India. Because of the deep cultural attachment, people have recognized several pickle-mango types from the wild habitats. However, studies on treeto-tree variation in fruit and stone traits in natural populations are not done, which is a pre-requisite for cultivar development. Unripe fruits collected from 34 wild fruiting trees in two populations, 17 from Sirsi and 17 from Siddapur localities in Central Western Ghats, India were studied for variation in fruit traits and its association traits. Fruits from Sirsi locality were significantly larger than those from Siddapur (84.27 vs. 51.26 g) due to their greater green flesh mass (79.91 vs. 43.17 g). Tree-to-tree variation was highly significant and continuous in fruit length (Sirsi = 49.45-102.51 mm; Siddapur = 28.23-59.19 mm), stone length (Sirsi=26.97-55.59 mm; Siddapur=20.43-51.47 mm), fruit mass (Sirsi=19.78-84.27 g; Siddapur=15.50-51.26 g) and flesh mass (Sirsi=18.01-79.91 g; Siddapur=13.93-43.17 g), indicating the potential for selection. The strong relationships between fruit mass and green flesh mass in aromatic pickle-mango found in this study indicated that selection for green flesh mass can be based on fruit mass. Based on five important traits preferred by growers/fruit collectors/sellers and four quantitative traits from observations, development of an 'ideal type' and identification of potential superior trees was attempted. These results have important implications for the domestication of pickle-mango genetic resources.
Almost all the current commercial mango cultivars in India are the result of selection from the n... more Almost all the current commercial mango cultivars in India are the result of selection from the natural seedling population and majority of them have been selected by the farmers.The conventional breeding system with traditional knowledge is evolving more and more towards preservation of genetic diversity. In Pusa site of the UNEP/GEF sponsored project in the Bihar state of India, many mango seedlings are found growing in the orchards as well as in the backyards. Mango being a highly cross-pollinated fruit crop exhibits a lot of variability in morpho-physico-chemical traits of fruits in these seedling plants. For selection of the elite seedling genotypes, farmers play an important role and with the help of the breeder they can pave the way for maintaining the local germplasm. Hence, in order to study the genetic variability among mango seedlings and to select elite mango genotypes and to conserve them, a survey was conducted in the four project communities and the surrounding villages. A total of 74 seedling types of mango were characterized using morpho-taxonomic parameters. Physico-chemical characterization of fruit samples revealed the existence of a great variability in the seedling mango plants, which not only contributes to biological diversity, but can also be used for crop improvement or for varietal selection. Based on this physico-chemical characterization, principal component and cluster analysis and grouping of seedling clones on the basis of possession of desirable characters by them, six seedling clones, having the majority of desirable fruit characteristics were selected. These selected clones will definitely broaden the genetic base of mango in the Pusa site as well offer the scope for choice of selection of varieties by the farmers and ultimately the conservation of the valuable germplasm.
Native communities of South and South East Asia, a centre of diversity of tropical fruit trees (T... more Native communities of South and South East Asia, a centre of diversity of tropical fruit trees (TFT), share a common cultural heritage associated with tropical fruits. Unfortunately, there is a dramatic loss of traditional knowledge associated with TFTs. This comparative study was undertaken in 24 village communities spread across India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand using structured questionnaires and multiple approaches to document use-value of TFTs. Considering only four focal genera of TFT species viz., Mangifera, Garcinia, Citrus and Nephelium, an amazing diversity of 56 species was reported to be utilized by the communities. Ranking of species based on the number of use-categories and based on the cultural importance value showed differences. Mangifera indica, Citrus aurantifolia and C. reticulata were the three extensively used TFTs as food and for processing. As revealed by Jaccards' index, three South East Asian countries showed a higher similarity among themselves than India. M. indica, M. pajang, M. foetida, G. morella, G. atroviridis, G. mangostana, C. hystrix, C. aurantifolia and C. grandis were culturally the most significant TFTs and hence may be conserved with high priority.
International Journal of Biodiversity Science, Ecosystem Services & Management
Developments in international and national law and policy over the last two decades have changed ... more Developments in international and national law and policy over the last two decades have changed the working environment for those in charge of managing and making decisions about genetic resources, including those held on-farm by farming communities. A collaborative programme with national partners in Vietnam, Mexico, Peru, Burkina Faso, Morocco and Hungary, and Bioversity International (formerly the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI) has designed tools to assist scientists and decision-makers to understand how scientific and institutional information about in situ conservation of agricultural biodiversity on-farm can be integrated and inform policy choices. This paper shares information about the critical components of the policy development process and how the process might enable a participatory, bottom-up approach for supporting the conservation and use of agricultural biodiversity on-farm.
Esta serie de libros está publicada por Earthscan, en asocio con Bioversity International. La met... more Esta serie de libros está publicada por Earthscan, en asocio con Bioversity International. La meta de la serie es revisar el estado actual del conocimiento sobre temas de actualidad relacionados con la biodiversidad agrícola, identificar brechas en nuestra base de conocimiento, sintetizar lecciones aprendidas y proponer acciones futuras de investigación y desarrollo. El objetivo general es aumentar el uso sostenible de la biodiversidad para mejorar el bienestar de los pueblos, y la seguridad alimentaria y la nutrición. Esta serie abarca todos los aspectos de la biodiversidad agrícola, desde la conservación biológica de los recursos genéticos, pasando por las ciencias sociales hasta aspectos legales y de políticas. Incluye también los campos de investigación, educación, comunicación y coordinación, manejo de información e intercambio de conocimientos.
Although community level seed-saving initiatives have been around for about 30 years, until recen... more Although community level seed-saving initiatives have been around for about 30 years, until recently they have received little attention in the scientific literature on climate change adaptation and plant genetic resources. Based on research experiences from various countries, this article argues that community seed banks can enhance the resilience of farmers, in particular of communities and households most affected by climate change. Community seed banks can secure improved access to, and availability of, diverse, locally adapted crops and varieties, and enhance related indigenous knowledge and skills in plant management, including seed selection, treatment, storage, multiplication, and distribution.
" What is needed today is to understand and implement different and innovative approaches – far d... more " What is needed today is to understand and implement different and innovative approaches – far different from the conventional green revolution type of crop improvement. This book shows the way to make this a reality. It demonstrates how to integrate the innovation of smallholder farmers into large-scale research for development by selecting farmers' best fruit varieties, employing locally developed good practices and restoring degraded lands with diverse fruit species that at the same time sustainably improve the diets of the poor. "-—From the foreword by Ann Tutwiler, Director General, Bioversity International F armers have developed a range of agricultural practices to sustainably use and maintain a wide diversity of crop species in many parts of the world. This book documents good practices innovated by farmers and collects key reviews on good practices from global experts, not only from the case study countries but also from Brazil, China and other parts of Asia and Latin America. A good practice for diversity is defined as a system, organization or process that, over time and space, maintains, enhances and creates crop genetic diversity, and ensures its availability to and from farmers and other users. Drawing on experiences from a UNEP-GEF project on " Conservation and Sustainable Use of Wild and Cultivated Tropical Fruit Tree Diversity for Promoting Livelihoods, Food Security and Ecosystem Services " , with case studies from India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, the authors show how methods for identifying good practices are still evolving and challenges in scaling-up remain. They identify key principles effective as a strategy for mainstreaming good practice into development efforts. Few books draw principles and lessons learned from good practices. This book fills this gap by combining good practices from the research project on tropical fruit trees with chapters from external experts to broaden its scope and relevance.
This book uses some key terms that need to be defined at the outset for better understanding and ... more This book uses some key terms that need to be defined at the outset for better understanding and discussion. Before we discuss 'good practices in the management and use of tropical fruit tree diversity', it is important to understand the wider context in which such practices take place, as some of them are relatively new concepts. Some well-accepted concepts are also included for clarity with respect to tropical fruit trees.
Bioversity International is a global research-for-development organization. We have a vision -tha... more Bioversity International is a global research-for-development organization. We have a vision -that agricultural biodiversity nourishes people and sustains the planet.
Garcinia gummi-gutta (L.) Roxb. (Clusiaceae) is an endemic, semidomesticated, fruit-yielding tree... more Garcinia gummi-gutta (L.) Roxb. (Clusiaceae) is an endemic, semidomesticated, fruit-yielding tree species distributed in the Western Ghats of India and Sri Lanka. Various bioactive phytochemicals, such as garcinol, benzophenones and xanthones are isolated from G. gummi-gutta and have shown antibacterial, antiviral and antioxidant activities. We sequenced the total genomic DNA using Illumina Hiseq 2000 platform and examined 241,141,804 bp high quality data, assembled into 773,889 contigs. In these contigs, 27,313 simple-sequence repeats (SSRs) were identified, among which mononucleotide repeats were predominant (44.98%) followed by dinucleotide and trinucleotide repeats. Primers were designed for 9964 microsatellites among which 32 randomly selected SSR primer pairs were standardized for amplification. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of genomic DNA in 30 G. gummi-gutta genotypes revealed polymorphic information content (PIC) across all 32 loci ranging from 0.867 to 0.951, with a mean value of 0.917. The observed and expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.00 to 0.63 and 0.896 to 0.974, respectively. Alleles per locus ranged from 12 to 27. This is the first report on the development of genomic SSR markers in G. gummi-gutta using next-generation sequencing technology. The genomic SSR markers developed in this study will be useful in identification, mapping, diversity and breeding studies.
Aromatic pickle-mango types, locally termed as 'Appemidi', are extensively collected for househol... more Aromatic pickle-mango types, locally termed as 'Appemidi', are extensively collected for household use and for commerce from the wild habitats even today in the central Western Ghats, India. Because of the deep cultural attachment, people have recognized several pickle-mango types from the wild habitats. However, studies on treeto-tree variation in fruit and stone traits in natural populations are not done, which is a pre-requisite for cultivar development. Unripe fruits collected from 34 wild fruiting trees in two populations, 17 from Sirsi and 17 from Siddapur localities in Central Western Ghats, India were studied for variation in fruit traits and its association traits. Fruits from Sirsi locality were significantly larger than those from Siddapur (84.27 vs. 51.26 g) due to their greater green flesh mass (79.91 vs. 43.17 g). Tree-to-tree variation was highly significant and continuous in fruit length (Sirsi = 49.45-102.51 mm; Siddapur = 28.23-59.19 mm), stone length (Sirsi=26.97-55.59 mm; Siddapur=20.43-51.47 mm), fruit mass (Sirsi=19.78-84.27 g; Siddapur=15.50-51.26 g) and flesh mass (Sirsi=18.01-79.91 g; Siddapur=13.93-43.17 g), indicating the potential for selection. The strong relationships between fruit mass and green flesh mass in aromatic pickle-mango found in this study indicated that selection for green flesh mass can be based on fruit mass. Based on five important traits preferred by growers/fruit collectors/sellers and four quantitative traits from observations, development of an 'ideal type' and identification of potential superior trees was attempted. These results have important implications for the domestication of pickle-mango genetic resources.
Almost all the current commercial mango cultivars in India are the result of selection from the n... more Almost all the current commercial mango cultivars in India are the result of selection from the natural seedling population and majority of them have been selected by the farmers.The conventional breeding system with traditional knowledge is evolving more and more towards preservation of genetic diversity. In Pusa site of the UNEP/GEF sponsored project in the Bihar state of India, many mango seedlings are found growing in the orchards as well as in the backyards. Mango being a highly cross-pollinated fruit crop exhibits a lot of variability in morpho-physico-chemical traits of fruits in these seedling plants. For selection of the elite seedling genotypes, farmers play an important role and with the help of the breeder they can pave the way for maintaining the local germplasm. Hence, in order to study the genetic variability among mango seedlings and to select elite mango genotypes and to conserve them, a survey was conducted in the four project communities and the surrounding villages. A total of 74 seedling types of mango were characterized using morpho-taxonomic parameters. Physico-chemical characterization of fruit samples revealed the existence of a great variability in the seedling mango plants, which not only contributes to biological diversity, but can also be used for crop improvement or for varietal selection. Based on this physico-chemical characterization, principal component and cluster analysis and grouping of seedling clones on the basis of possession of desirable characters by them, six seedling clones, having the majority of desirable fruit characteristics were selected. These selected clones will definitely broaden the genetic base of mango in the Pusa site as well offer the scope for choice of selection of varieties by the farmers and ultimately the conservation of the valuable germplasm.
Native communities of South and South East Asia, a centre of diversity of tropical fruit trees (T... more Native communities of South and South East Asia, a centre of diversity of tropical fruit trees (TFT), share a common cultural heritage associated with tropical fruits. Unfortunately, there is a dramatic loss of traditional knowledge associated with TFTs. This comparative study was undertaken in 24 village communities spread across India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand using structured questionnaires and multiple approaches to document use-value of TFTs. Considering only four focal genera of TFT species viz., Mangifera, Garcinia, Citrus and Nephelium, an amazing diversity of 56 species was reported to be utilized by the communities. Ranking of species based on the number of use-categories and based on the cultural importance value showed differences. Mangifera indica, Citrus aurantifolia and C. reticulata were the three extensively used TFTs as food and for processing. As revealed by Jaccards' index, three South East Asian countries showed a higher similarity among themselves than India. M. indica, M. pajang, M. foetida, G. morella, G. atroviridis, G. mangostana, C. hystrix, C. aurantifolia and C. grandis were culturally the most significant TFTs and hence may be conserved with high priority.
International Journal of Biodiversity Science, Ecosystem Services & Management
Developments in international and national law and policy over the last two decades have changed ... more Developments in international and national law and policy over the last two decades have changed the working environment for those in charge of managing and making decisions about genetic resources, including those held on-farm by farming communities. A collaborative programme with national partners in Vietnam, Mexico, Peru, Burkina Faso, Morocco and Hungary, and Bioversity International (formerly the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI) has designed tools to assist scientists and decision-makers to understand how scientific and institutional information about in situ conservation of agricultural biodiversity on-farm can be integrated and inform policy choices. This paper shares information about the critical components of the policy development process and how the process might enable a participatory, bottom-up approach for supporting the conservation and use of agricultural biodiversity on-farm.
This chapter explores value chain development strategies that contribute to community biodiversit... more This chapter explores value chain development strategies that contribute to community biodiversity management, for both improved livelihoods and conservation of agricultural biodiversity. The chapter reflects on existing value chain methods and approaches that have guided the formulation of the 12 tools that have been used in a UNEP/GEF regional project titled ‘Conservation and sustainable use of cultivated and wild tropical fruit diversity: Promoting sustainable livelihoods, food security and ecosystem services’ (TFT project) to create markets for neglected fruit species and landraces and generate income for custodians of fruit tree diversity. The chapter describes 16 case studies from the TFT project that showcase how farming communities can use markets to generate income from local, unique fruit tree species and varieties as an integral part of a community-based on-farm or in situ conservation effort. The final section reflects on lessons learned about different types of market strategies to consider when designing value chain development based on natural capital such as agricultural biodiversity and introduces a tool to assess the level of agricultural biodiversity in a value chain, which can guide market interventions and monitor their impact on agricultural biodiversity.
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Papers by Bhuwon Sthapit