Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Seed Systems and Farmers’ Seed Choices: The Case of Maizein the Peruvian Amazon

  • Published:
Human Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

An Erratum to this article was published on 13 July 2010

Abstract

This paper analyzes how local seed system institutions support seed diversity, itself a requirement for agrobiodiversity maintained on-farm. The paper focuses on maize seed diversity in the central Peruvian Amazon. Using household and community level data from three different cultural groups from the central Peruvian Amazon, empirical results show the importance of collective action and the mediating role of ethnicity in the functioning of informal seed systems that in turn affect farmers’ choices regarding conservation of seed diversity. This implies that policies are needed to protect the relatively open seed exchanges of such local practices as a way to sustain on-farm agrobiodiversity.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Only one farmer in our dataset cultivated on riverbanks.

  2. Other earlier studies focusing on this region attest that sourcing seeds from outside farmers’ villages is done to expand the choice set for traits (Arevalo 1999; Panduro 1999).

  3. We refer to traditional livelihoods as being largely based on a subsistence system, with less use of salaried work in regional commercial hubs. While we recognize that exchange with external people, including travel to faraway commercial hubs, has occurred historically among all the three population groups, we use the term market integration to denote occasions which have been occurring more frequently throughout recent years, with a relatively higher degree of such external contacts.

  4. Peru is in the process of joining the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) in the context of the implementation of a free trade agreement with the United States and although it is not clear whether this would have implications for the conservation and use of landraces, it does indicate a new policy envioronment for seed systems in the country.

References

  • Almekinders, C. J. M., Louwaars, N. P., and de Bruijn, G. H. (1994). Local Seed Systems and Their Importance for an Improved Seed Supply in Developing Countries. Euphytica 78: 207–216.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arevalo, M. (1999). Modalidades de reciprocidad comunitaria en el Bajo Mayo. In Arevalo, M., Panduro, R., Quinteros, A., and Rengifo, G. (eds.), Hacer Brillar la Chacra. Agricultura Campesina Alto Amazonica, San Martin, pp. 51–70.

    Google Scholar 

  • Badstue, L. B., Bellon, M. R., Berthaud, J., Ramirez, A., Flores, D., and Juarez, X. (2007). The Dynamics of Farmers’ Maize Seed Supply Practices in the Central Valleys of Oaxaca, Mexico. World Development 35(9): 1579–1593.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Badstue, L. B., Bellon, M. R., Berthaud, J., Juarez, X., Rosas, I. M., Solano, A. M., and Ramirez, J. (2006). Examining the Role of Collective Action in an Informal Seed System: A Case Study from the Central Valleys of Oaxaca, Mexico. Human Ecology 34(2): 249–273.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ban, N., and Coomes, O.T. (2004). Home Gardens in Amazonian Peru: diversity and exchange of planting material. The Geographical Review 94(3) July: 348–367.

    Google Scholar 

  • Behrens, C. A. (1992). Labor Specialization and the Formation of Markets for Food in a Shipibo Subsistence Economy. Human Ecology 20(4): 435–462.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bellon, MR. (2009). Do we need crop landraces for the future? Realizing the global option value of in situ conservation. In Kontoleon, A., Pascual, U., and Smale, M. (eds.), Agrobiodiversity and Economic Development. Routledge, London and New York, pp. 51–59.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bellon, M. R. (2004). Conceptualizing Interventions to Support On-farm Genetic Resource Conservation. World Development 32: 159–172.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bellon, M. R., Pham, J. L., and Jackson, M. T. (1997). Genetic conservation: A role for rice farmers. In Maxted, N., Ford-Lloyd, B. V., and Hawkes, J. G. (eds.), Plant Conservation: the In Situ Approach. Chapman and Hall, London, pp. 263–289.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bellon, M. R., Berthaud, J., Smale, M., Aguirre, J. A., Taba, S., Aragón, F., Díaz, J., and Castro, H. (2003). Participatory Landrace Selection for on Farm Conservation: An Example from the Central Valleys of Oaxaca, Mexico. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 50: 401–416.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bellon, M. R., Anderson, C. L., Lipper, L., Dalton, T. J., and Keleman, A. (2009). Synthesis Chapter: Markets, seed systems and crop diversity. In Lipper, L., Anderson, C. L., and Dalton, T. J. (eds.), Seed Trade in Rural Markets: Implications for Crop Diversity and Agricultural Development. Earthscan, London, UK, pp. 191–210.

    Google Scholar 

  • Benin, S. Gebremedhin, B. Smale, M. Pender, J. , and Ehui, S. (2003). Determinants of Cereal Diversity in Communities and on Household Farms of the Northern Ethiopian Highlands. EPTD Discussion Paper 105, Environment and Production Technology Division, International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, U.S.A.

  • Benz, B., Brush, S. B., and Perales, H. (2007). Tzeltal and Tzotzil Farmer Knowledge and Maize Diversity in Chiapas, Mexico. Current Anthropology 48: 289–300.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brush, S.B. (2000). The issues of in situ conservation of crop genetic resources. In Brush, S.B. (ed.), Genes in the Field: On-Farm Conservation of Crop Diversity, IDRC/IPGRI/Lewis Publishers. Rome, Italy, Ottawa, Canada pp. 3–28.

  • Brush, S. B. (2004). Farmers’ Bounty. Locating Crop Diversity in the Contemporary World. Yale University Press, New Haven.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brush, S., and Meng, E. (1998). Farmers’ Valuation and Conservation of Crop Genetic Resources. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 45: 139–150.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brush, S.B. and Perales, H.R. (2007). A Maize Landscape: Ethnicity and Agro-biodiversity in Mexico. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 121(3) July: 211–221.

  • Cardenas J. C. and Ostrom, E. (2004). What do people bring into the game? Experiments in the field about cooperation in the commons. Agricultural Systems 82: 307–326.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cavatassi, R. Lipper, L. and Hopkins, J. (2006). The Role of Crop Genetic Diversity in Coping with Agricultural Production Shocks: Insights from Eastern Ethiopia. ESA Working Paper no. 06–17 December, Agricultural Development Economics Division The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

  • Cavatassi, R. Lipper, L. and Winters, P. (2007). Sowing the Seeds of Social Relations: The Role of Social Capital in Crop Diversity. Presented at 9th Annual BioEcon Conference on Economics and Institutions for Biodiversity Conservation, Kings College, University of Cambridge, September.

  • Collado, L. A. Arroyo, M. Riesco, A. , and Chávez Servia, J. L. (2004a). Experiencias sobre la diversidad en los cultivos y aspectos económicos de la conservación in situ en la Amazonia central peruana. In Chávez-Servia, J.L. Tuxill, J. Jarvis, D.I (Eds) Manejo de la diversidad de los cultivos en los agroecosistemas tradicionales. Instituto Internacional de Recursos Fitogenéticos. Cali, Colombia. Pp: 188–198.

  • Collado, L. Chavez-Servia, J. L., and Riesco de la Vega, A. (2005). Variedades Locales y el Abastecimiento de Semillas en Ucayali. Report, Consorcio para el Desarrollo Sostenible de Ucayali, Pucallpa.

  • Collado, L., Pinedo, R., Sevilla, R., and Chavez, J.L. (2004b). Diversidad Genetica en el Maiz en el Amazonas Central Peruano. XX Reunion Latinoamericana de Maiz, 11 al 14 de Octubre de 2004, Lima.

  • Dennis, E., Ilyasov, J., van Dusen, M. E., Lee, S., Treshkin, S., and Smale, M. (2005). Social institutions and seed systems: the diversity of fruits and nuts in Uzbekistan. In Smale (ed.), Valuing Crop Biodiversity: On-farm Genetic Resources and Economic Change. CABI Publishing, Wallingford, pp. 192–210.

    Google Scholar 

  • Emperaire, Peroni, N. (2007). Traditional Management of Agrobiodiversity in Brazil: A Case Study of Manioc. Human Ecology 36(6): 761–768.

  • Harlan, J. R. (1975). Our Vanishing Genetic Resources. Science 188: 618–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heckler, S. L. (2004). Cultivating sociality: Aesthetic Factors in the Composition and Function of Piaroa Homegardens. Journal of Ethnobiology 24: 203–232.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heckler, S., and Zent, S. (2008). Piaroa Manioc Varietals: Hyperdiversity or Social Currency. Human Ecology 36: 679–697.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hintze, L. H., Ortiz, O., and Winters, P. (2005). Rural development and the diversity of potatoes on farmers in Cajamarca, Peru. In Smale, M. (ed.), Valuing Crop Diversity. CABI Publishing, Oxfordshire, pp. 146–161.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hodgkin, T., Rana, R., Tuxill, J., Balma, D., Subedi, A., Mar, I., Karamura, D., Valdivia, R., Collado, L., Latournerie, L., Sadiki, M., Sawadogo, M., Brown, A. H. D., and Jarvis, D. I. (2007). Seed systems and crop genetic diversity in agroecosystems. In Jarvis, D. I., Padoch, C., and Cooper, H. D. (eds.), Managing Biodiversity in Agricultural Systems. Columbia University Press, New York, pp. 77–116.

    Google Scholar 

  • Killick, E. (2008). Godparents and Trading Partners: Social and Economic Relations in Peruvian Amazonia. Journal of Latin American Studies 40: 303–328.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Killick, E. (2009). Ashéninka Amity: A Study of Social Relations in an Amazonian Society. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (N.S.) 15: 701–718.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • King, A., and Smale, M. (2005a). Targeting Conservation Policy. Research at a glance, Brief 18. International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington.

    Google Scholar 

  • King, A., and Smale, M. (2005b). Traits and Taxonomies — Building Blocks for Understanding Diversity. Research at a glance, Brief 14. International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington.

    Google Scholar 

  • King, A., and Smale, M. (2005c). Crop Diversity and Economic Change. Research at a glance, Brief 15. International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington.

    Google Scholar 

  • Labarta, R. A. White, D. Leguía, E. Guzmán, W., Soto, J. (2007) La Agricultura en la Amazonia Ribereña del Río Ucayali: ¿Una Zona Productiva Pero Poco Rentable?. Acta Amazonica 37(2): 177–186.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lipper, L., Anderson, C., Dalton, T.J. (eds) (2009). Seed Trade in Rural Markets: Implications for Crop Diversity and Agricultural Development. Earthscan: London, UK.

  • Louette, D., Charrier, A., and Berthaud, J. (1997). In Situ Conservation of Maize in Mexico: Genetic Diversity and Maize Seed Management in a Traditional Community. Economic Botany 51: 20–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGuire, S. (2007). Vulnerability in Farmer Seed Systems: Farmer Practices for Coping with Seed Insecurity for Sorghum in Eastern Ethiopia. Economic Botany 61: 211–222.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morris, M. L., Rusike, L., and Smale, M. (1998). Maize seed industries: a conceptual framework”. In Morris, M. L. (ed.), Maize Seed Industries in Developing Countries. Lynne Riener and CIMMYT, Boulder, Colorado, pp. 35–54.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morris, M., and Lopez-Pereira, M. A. (1999). Impacts of Maize Breeding Research in Latin America 1966–1997. Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maiz y Trigo (CIMMYT). Mexico, D.F.

  • Nagarajan, L., and Smale, M. (2005). Local Seed Systems and Village-level Determinants of Millet Crop Diversity in Marginal Environments of India. IFPRI.

  • Nature (2004). Monsanto Wins Seven-year Court Battle for Seed Patent. 429, 27 May: 330.

  • Padoch, C., and De Jong, W. (1991). The House Gardens of Santa Rosa: Diversity and Variability in an Amazonian Agricultural System. Economic Botany 45(2): 166–175.

    Google Scholar 

  • Panduro, R. (1999). Agricultura campesina Alto Amazonica y biodiversidad. In Arevalo, M. Panduro, Quinteros, R. and Rengifo, G. (eds.), Hacer Brillar la Chacra. Agricultura Campesina Alto Amazonica. San Martin, Peru, pp. 15–36.

  • Pascual, U., and Perrings, C. (2007). Developing Incentives and Economic Eechanisms for in Situ Biodiversity Conservation in Agricultural Landscapes. Agriculture, Ecosystems and the Environment 121(3): 256–268.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perales, H. R., Benz, B. F., and Brush, S. B. (2005). Maize Diversity and Ethnolinguistic Diversity in Chiapas, Mexico. Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences. 102(3): 949–954.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pretty, J. N. (1995). Regenerating Agriculture: Policies and Practices for Sustainability and Self-Seliance. Joseph Henry Press, Washington DC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Putsche, L. A. (2000). Reassessment of Resource Depletion, Market Dependency, and Culture Change on a Shipibo Reserve in the Peruvian Amazon. Human Ecology 28(1): 131–140.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reyes-García, V., Vadez, V., Martí, N., Huanca, T., Leonard, W. R., and Tanner, S. (2008). Ethnobotanical Knowledge and Crop Diversity in Swidden Fields: A Study in a Native Amazonian Society. Human Ecology 36: 569–580.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Riesco, A. (1995) Conservacion del Bosque Amazonico, Una Estrategia Comun Sobre la Base de la Estabilizacion de la Agricultura Migratoria y el Manejo Sostenible del Bosque: Proyecto Bosque. Procitropicos, Pucallpa, Peru.

  • Smale, M. (2002). The conceptual framework for economics research in IPGRI’s Global In-situ Conservation On-farm Project. In Smale, M., Már, I. and Jarvis, D.I. (eds.), The Economics of Conserving Agricultural Biodiversity On-farm. Proceedings of a Workshop hosted by the Institute for Agrobotany (IA), Hungary, and the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI), Italy. Gödöllo, Hungary. May 13–16 2002.

  • Smale M., Diakité L., Grum, M., Jones H., Traoré I.S., and Guindo H. (2010). The Impact of Participation in Diversity Field Fora on Farmer Management of Millet and Sorghum Varieties in Mali. African Journal for Agricultural and Resource Economics. Forthcoming.

  • Smith, J., van de Kop, P., Reategui, K., Lombardi, I., Sabogal, C., and Diaz, A. (1999). Dynamics of secondary forests in slash-and-burn farming: interactions among land use types in the Peruvian Amazon. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 76: 85–98.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sribney, B. (1998). Advantages of the Robust Variance Estimator. StataCorp, www.stata.com, accessed 25th March 2008.

  • Vadez, V., Reyes-García, V., Godoy, R. A., Apaza, L., Byron, E., Huanca, T., Leonard, W. R., Perez, E., and Wilkie, D. (2004). Does Integration to the Market Threaten Agricultural Diversity? Panel and Cross-sectional Data from a Horticultural-foraging Society in the Bolivian Amazon. Human Ecology 32: 635–646.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Dusen, E. (2004). A metapopulation Approach to Farmer Seed Systems: Methodology for Agricultural Biodiversity Conservation Policy. Presented at 4th Annual BioEcon Conference on Economics and Institutions for Biodiversity Conservation, Kings College, University of Cambridge, September.

  • van Dusen, E., and Taylor, E. (2005). Missing Markets and Crop Diversity: Evidence from Mexico. Environmental and Development Economics 10: 513–531.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Etten, J., and de Bruin, S. (2007). Regional and Local Maize Seed Exchange and Replacement in the Western Highlands of Guatemala. Plant Genetic Resources: Characterization and Utilization 5: 57–70.

    Google Scholar 

  • Winters, P., Cavatassi, R., and Lipper, L. (2006). Sowing the Seeds of Social Relations: The Role of Social Capital in Crop Diversity. ESA working paper 06–16. FAO, Rome.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yanggen, D. R., and Reardon, T. (2001). Kudzu-improved Fallows in the Peruvian Amazon? In Angelsen, A., and Kaimowitz, D. (eds.), Agricultural Intensification and Deforestation. CABI, Wallingford and New York, pp. 213–230.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the Consorcio para el Desarrollo Sostenible de Ucayali (CODESU), in particular Luis Collado and Roger Pinedo, for data collection and technical support in the field. Special thanks are also owed to community members in the Peruvian Amazon and to Manuel Glave, Ricardo Sevilla, Claudia Ituarte, Ernesto Apto, Luis Limachi, Isabel Ore, Elinor Ostrom and Christine Padoch for comments on earlier drafts of this paper. Financial support from the Cambridge European Trust, CT Taylor Fund and St Edmunds College, Cambridge, is acknowledged. Lastly, we thank Judith Thompson for editorial assistance.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. United Nations University - Institute of Advanced Studies, 1-1-1 Minato Mirai, Nishi-ku, Yokohama, 220-8502, Japan

    Per M. Stromberg, Unai Pascual & Mauricio R. Bellon

Authors
  1. Per M. Stromberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Unai Pascual
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Mauricio R. Bellon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Per M. Stromberg.

Additional information

An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10745-010-9340-4

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Stromberg, P.M., Pascual, U. & Bellon, M.R. Seed Systems and Farmers’ Seed Choices: The Case of Maizein the Peruvian Amazon. Hum Ecol 38, 539–553 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-010-9333-3

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-010-9333-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation