Maintenance and Conservation of "Heirloom" Varieties in Indian Agro-ecosystems

Abstract: India is one of the megadiversity zones of the world, showing wide agro-climatic, geophysical and ethnic variation. At least 167 crop species and 320 wild relatives of crops have their primary, secondary or regional centers of diversity here. The tribal-inhabited belt is particularly the center of domestication and of remarkable genetic diversity in food crops.

In recent decades, the Green Revolution of modern, high-yielding varieties (including hybrids) of crops has displaced the vast mosaic of traditional crop varieties. There is no systematic information on the loss of genetic diversity in Indian agriculture, but the available data indicate an advanced stage of genetic uniformity in crop plants. Despite such a trend, many "heirloom" varieties are still maintained by gardeners, farmers and tribals in isolated rural and tribal areas, and are also available in the tribal markets - "hat." Due to rural-urban migration, tribal acculturation and constantly shrinking rural populations, there is real danger of extinction of many traditional varieties. Home gardens (variously termed as kitchen gardens, forest gardens or heritage farms) can be encouraged and should play a major role in the conservation and maintenance of living "heirlooms".

The concept of farmers' rights aims to recognize the past and present contributions of farmers and tribal communities, especially in the developing world, to the creation, conservation and availability of biodiversity. The domestic patent and intellectual property rights legislation should include provisions to maintain the farmers' privilege of planting saved seed in successive seasons. A dynamic farmer-based approach to landraces conservation, enhancement and utilization is recommended and agro-ethnobotanical knowledge must be tapped, in conjunction with modern scientific advances. With changing socio-economic structures, this knowledge may not be passed from generation to generation and may be lost forever.

Introduction

As an alternative strategy to the Green Revolution, traditional agro-ecosystems, based on the cultivation of a diversity of crops in time and space (varietal mixtures, inter-crops, multiple crops, home gardens and polycultures) have proved to be sustainable in their historical and ecological context. This is illustrated by a once-common practice of the Garhwal Himalaya, the baranaja, involving the sowing of a mixture of 12 or more crops (common bean, black gram, green gram, horse gram, amaranths, finger millet, barnyard millet etc.) in a single plot of land, and harvesting the same at different times to ensure a constant supply of food. It is said to give a higher overall productivity, apart from meeting diverse needs-- as compared to the same fields converted into a soybean monoculture, which is being done by agricultural agencies in the region (Kothari, 1994). Over much of India, the traditional agro-ecosystems have been disrupted (Figure 1). About 175 million ha, or over 50 percent of the total geographical area in the country, is affected by problems of land degradation, through salinization, flooding, drought, accelerated erosion, water logging, etc. (Table 1).

Figure 1: Map of India showing predominantly tribal areas.

Table 1: Soil erosion and land degradation in India
1. Total geographic area	329.0¹
2. Area subject to water & wind erosion	150.0
3. Area degraded through special problems	25.0
Water logged	6.0
Alkaline soil	2.5
Saline soil including coastal sandy areas	5.5
Ravines and gullies	3.9
Area subject to shifting cultivation	4.4
Ravine and torrents	2.7
4. Annual average loss of nutrients from land estimated at 2 & 3	5.4 to 8.4 mt
5. Total flood prone area	40 m ha
6. Total problem area	175.0
1. Area in million ha unless otherwise indicated. Source: Fertilizer statistics, 1987-88.

There is, at present, no systematic information on the loss of genetic diversity in Indian agriculture, but the available data indicate an advanced state of genetic uniformity in crop plants. It is estimated that just a few decades ago, Indian farmers grew more than 30,000 different varieties of rice, but in another 15 years, this enormous diversity will be reduced to no more than 50 varieties, with the top ten accounting for over three-quarters of the subcontinents' rice acreage (Mooney, 1983). Unless their seeds are replanted by the farmers, these outstanding varieties will be lost forever. Many of these "heirloom" varieties (seeds passed down from generation to generation) are still maintained by gardeners, farmers and tribals in isolated rural and tribal areas, and are often available in the kitchen gardens, courtyards or home gardens. Today, due to rural-urban migration, tribal acculturation and extinction, and constantly shrinking rural populations, elderly farmers and seed savers often cannot find anyone who will continue growing their living "heirlooms". The rapid disappearance of many traditional varieties of grain and vegetable crops (rice, wheat, sugarcane, cotton, minor millets, pulses etc.) has been described as a botanical holocaust.

An all-India Coordinated Research Project on Ethnobiology was designed recently, under Man and the Biosphere Program, to identify the plant and animal wealth in tribal areas which are under serious threat of extinction and to suggest strategies for their conservation and management. These studies have revealed that over 9500 plant species are used by the tribals for food (3900), medicine (7500), fibre and cordage (525), fodder (400), pesticides and piscicides (300), gums, resins and dyes (300), incense and perfumes (100), and other material and cultural requirements (700).

The role of peasants, subsistence farmers and tribals in the conservation, promotion and dissemination of crop genetic diversity is being formally recognized by the international community. By conscious and continuous selection, farming and tribal groups have created and maintained many traditional varieties of different crops. It is in these traditional societies that an immense genetic diversity persisted unimpaired for millennia, even after a crop became highly evolved elsewhere. The preservation of genetic diversity in genebanks has short-term utility for research and development and is easily susceptible to accidents, such as power failures, and to genetic drift and loss of seed viability. More than 60 genebanks were built and more than 3 million seed samples were placed in storage, offering both temperature and humidity controls. In the 1980s, studies showed that these banks were mere tombs, rather than storehouses, and that the rate of genetic erosion was actually greater in storage than in the field. The only way we can hope to save the crop genetic diversity is to protect the diverse ancestral genotypes in their cradle region and on farmer's fields by 'freezing' the genetic landscape, even to the extent of subsidizing the traditional agro-ecosystems. In the case of truly wild progenitors and relatives of crops, we need to preserve them outright and manipulate their habitats, as in a wildlife preserve, in situ. It is only by the rigid protection of specific local agro-ecosystems and genetic landscapes that we may be able to preserve the vast array of potentially valuable landraces or folk varieties, and provide long-term success in continuing the evolution of our crops.

Indian region — a cradle of agricultural biodiversity

The diversity is amply reflected in about 75,000 species of animals and 45,000 species of plants existing in India. At least 167 crop species and 320 wild varieties of crops have their primary, secondary or regional centers of diversity in the region. These include fruit trees (mango, banana and citrus), vegetables like eggplant, okra and cucurbits (melons and gourds), legumes (mung bean, urd or black gram and cowpeas), rice, pepper, cardamon, ginger, turmeric, sugarcane, jute and various medicinal and oilseeds, spices, vegetables, fodders and plantation crops. To give some examples, one species of rice (Oryza sativa) has diversified into at least 50,000 distinct varieties, and one species of mango (Mangifera indica) into over 1000 varieties ranging from the size of the peanut to a small pumpkin. Finger millet or ragi (Eleusine coracana ssp. coracana), after its introduction from East Africa several thousands years ago, developed important characteristics in South Asia; the latter became an important source of its genetic diversity. Several landraces of drum wheat (Triticum durum) known under the names Kathia types, Jalalia, Bansi, Tambai katha, Kala-salu and Malwa types, and varying in grain quality and lustre occur in Madhya Pradesh. Ethnic diversity has played a major role in the diversification of crop genetic resources in the region. The ancestors of many of our crop plants and landraces or folk varieties are interwoven with tribal cultures (Maheshwari, 1991; Khoshoo and Sharma, 1991; Paroda and Arora, 1991).

Home gardens and agro-biodiversity

The primitive cultivars grown by farmers are valuable sources of genetic material for modern plant breeding. IR-72, a modern variety of rice (Oryza sativa) was developed by crossbreeding 22 landraces from 7 nations: India, Indonesia, China, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia (Table 2). In 1969, O. nivara, a wild rice from India, was discovered to resist grassy stunt virus (GSV). It was crossed and backcrossed with IR 24 three times to produce a variety resistant to GSV and with IR 24 grain qualities.

Table 2: Pedigree of IR-72- a modern variety of rice
Twenty-two ultimate landraces
INDIA Oryza nivara Arikarai Eravapandi Gowdalu Kitchili Samba Latisail Mudgo Thekkan Vellai Kar Unknown Variety Unknown Variety INDONESIA Benong MALAYSIA Seroup Besai	CHINA Cina DGWG Pa Chiam Tsai Yuan Chan PHILIPPINES Marong Paroc Sinawpagh Tadukan VIETNAM Tetep THAILAND Germ Pai

Harshberger (1896) for the first time outlined the purpose of ethnobotanical gardens. The plants of ethnobotanical importance like maize, sunflower, tomato, potato, tobacco, rice, pumpkin, yam, taro, arrowroot, cassava, sweet potato, amaranths etc. associated with tribal people were grown over the ages as part of the life-support system for survival, subsistence and livelihood of tribals. In modern times, these gardens, also referred to as indigenous gardens, home gardens, forest gardens and heritage farms, should play a major role in the conservation and maintenance of "heirloom" varieties of economic plants. People in rural communities could been encouraged to construct ethnobotanical nurseries where locally useful species could be cultivated. This would not only provide a source of medicinal and edible plants, but would also serve to familiarize younger people with the herbs that were traditionally used in the community. The cultivated plots could serve as demonstration gardens where over-harvested wild species could be brought into cultivation and eventually integrated into home gardens or managed forests.

Home gardens (variously termed as kitchen gardens or forest gardens), are generally characteristic of the humid tropics. They represent intensive, multi-storied combinations of crops, trees and livestock, and are the dominant form of land use in Kerala and north-east India. These gardens have many variations, but all are designed to supply family requirements of food, fodder, fuel and timber, and to generate additional income through the sale of surplus products. A typical example of a multi-storied system might include coconut + black pepper + cocoa + pineapple, grown primarily for sale, in addition to family food crops. The most important crops are coconut and cassava in upland areas and rice in the lowlands. Other tree crops include cocoa, jackfruit, cashew, arecanut (betel), nutmeg and clove, as well as teak, Pterocarpus marsupium, Erythrina variegeta, Artocarpus hirsuta, Bombax ceiba, Albizia falcataria, Ailanthus excelsa and bamboo grown for timber, fodder and fuel, and to support vines. Agricultural crops include sugarcane, sweet potato, colocasia (taro), yams, pulses, vegetables, sesame, ginger and turmeric. Livestock form the third component with cattle, goat and poultry the most common domestic animals. Home gardens are economically viable, ecologically sound and biologically sustainable (Abdul Salam and Sreekumar, 1991).

Tribal markets — "hats"

With a view toward helping the tribals in their economic development, tribal cooperative societies have been organized in different states. At the national level, the Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India, Limited (TRIFED) was set up in 1987 to handle items of tribal produce. It has also been declared as the central, nodal agency for organizing collection, processing, storage and development of oilseeds of tree and forest origin (Maheshwari, 1990).

Conclusions

The role of small-scale farmers and their traditional varieties, farming systems and knowledge in developing a truly sustainable agriculture may have been neglected by the formal research system over the past decades. Agro-ethnobotany provides an useful tool in determining the amount of agro-biodiversity present, its current status and future strategies. India is inhabited by about 450 tribal communities, constituting about 8 percent of the total population of the country. Their knowledge about specific plant usage is transmitted largely through word of mouth and tradition. Much of this agro-ethnobotanical knowledge has, therefore, remained endemic to certain regions or tribes, and needs to be systematically surveyed, documented and utilized (Maheshwari,1988). Agro-ethnobotanical information is key to preventing the loss of irreplaceable genetic resources. There are still 74 primitive tribal groups in the Indian region, who were identified on the basis of their pre-agricultural level of technology, low level of literacy, and stagnant or diminishing population (Table 3). They are the traditional conservators of biodiversity at the grassroots. A dynamic farmer- led approach to landraces conservation, enhancement and utilization is recommended.

Table 3: Primitive tribal groups of India
State/UT	Primitive tribal group	Total no. of households
1. Andhra Pradesh	Bodo-Gadaba, Bondo Poroja, Gutob Gadaba, Khond Poroja, Parangi Poroja, Thoti, Dongaria Khonds, Konda Savaras, Kutia Kondhs, Chenchu, Kolam, Kohda Reddies	21563
2. Bihar	Asur, Birhar, Birjia, Savar, Hill Kharia, Korwa, Malpaharia, Parhaiyas, Sauria Paharia	33788
3. Gujarat	Kathodi, Siddis, Kolgha, Kotwalia, Padhar	12101
4. Madhya Pradesh	Abujhmarias, Baigas, Bharias, Hill Korwas, Sahariyas, Karnar	103362
5. Maharashtra	Maria Gond, Katkari, Kolam	40622
6. Orissa	Birhor, Didayi, Mankidias, Lodha, Bondo, Dongaria Kondhs, Kutia Kondhs, Lanjia Saora, Paudi Bhuyan, Saora, Karias, Juangs	36144
7. Rajasthan	Sahariyas	7000
8. Tripura	Riang	12935
9. West Bengal	Birhor, Tota, Lodha	9378
10. Uttar Pradesh	Rajis, Buxa	2074
11. Karnataka	Jenu Kuruba, Koraga	2652
12. Kerala	Cholanaickans, Kadar, Kurumbas, Kattunaickans	1373
13. Manipur	Maram, Nagas	908
14. Tamil Nadu	Kattunaickans, Kotas, Todas, Irulas, Kurumbas, Paniyans	4000
15. Andaman and Nicobar Islands	Great Andamanese, Jarawas, Onges, Sentinelese, Shompens	102
TOTAL	72	288002

There is also a clear need for enhanced collaboration and closer ties between the farmer-based informal system of varietal diversity associated with traditional agroecosystems and formal systems of research laboratories, plant breeders and private companies. The involvement of small-scale farmers and tribals in the future conservation of domesticated biodiversity needs to be strengthened and expanded to cover a broad range of agro-ecological conditions and strategic sites in the region. Agro-ethnobotanical studies are needed in areas where traditional farming is still widely practiced to learn new uses for wild and domesticated plants, to improve communication between farmers and scientists, and to provide long-term continuity in national research programs. Traditional knowledge about local varieties and landraces must be tapped, in conjunction with modern scientific advances. With changing socio-economic structures, this knowledge may not be passed on through the generations and may be lost forever.

References

 

© 1997 International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada
pub@idrc.ca | 5 June 1997
Source: http://www.idrc.ca/books/focus/833/maheshwa.html