The Catalogue of Potato Varieties from Huancavelica,

Peru Maria Mayer Scurrah & Stef de Haan

Grupo Yanapai Addis Ababa 23-25 Nov 2010

What should this In Situ Catalogue contain?

a. Explicit recognition of communities and farmers maintaining the diversity,

b. inclusion of local ethnobotanical knowledge (nomenclature, histories, preparations),

c. DNA fingerprint for protection and future (re)identification

What should this In Situ catalogue contain ?cont.

d. inclusion of text in the indigenous Quechua language.

e. Comply with law 27811 Informed consent

f). Photographic imagesg) Taxonomic and

agronmic data

STEPS • Identify communities and

farmer families• On farm : morphological

characteristics and photography, ethnobotanical inquiry

• In lab: Molecular Characterization, ploidy counts, species identification

• Legal issues• Writing, design, printing.

• (3 years)

Value of catalogue (survey)

• Farmer recognition and involvement: Proud to share

knowledge • What varieties are grown (f&g)• Varieties can not be

misappropriated .• Local knowledge complemented scientific knowledge (SF) • Tangible to next generation

controversial

• Incomplete. (dinamic)• Use of written quechua• Use of molecular markers• Names • Lack of information on resistance, tolerance, from scientific trials.

Diversidad Morfológica en la Colección

Conclusions • Preserves local knowledge and

creates new knowledge • Diversity visible F&G • Prevents illicit apropiation • Baseline • Empowers and Recognizes

farmers • Beyond de fragility of oral

knowledge to the next generation

• Alliance of scientists &farmer

precipitated a range of new catalogues