Potato Park: preserving Peru's potatoes

[kctomato]

m.scidev.net/global/agriculture/multimedia/climate-change-knowledge-peru-indigenous-roots.html

[Tom Wagner]

I object to the politicized measures of linking the so-call climate change (Global Warming)with diversity in potato collections as the articles allude to in KC's link. Instead of trying to prove or disprove climate change....or what impositions will be put upon capitalistic nations...why not just propose "VARIETY CHANGE" instead of "Climate Change?" Plant breeders working on VARIETY CHANGE will accomplish more than misguided climate change litigation such as the infamous United Nation supports.

Reading through the quotes below includes some real zingers that insults the intelligence of breeders like me...namely the inclusion of genetic resources in guidelines for national climate change adaptation plans.

I will talk about this with my workshops in Europe soon. I have little to offer to offset the so-called Global Warming, but I can do lots with developing plant varieties to ever changing environmental conditions even if it means moving to a different farm, county, state or nation. Staying on your own postage size piece of ground with variable strains of potatoes and tomatoes does far more good than politics. Hope to gain some acceptance from my readership on that...detractors as well.

The event is promoting the participation of indigenous peoples, who are set to voice their views and discuss solutions at the meeting. And Peru’s environment minister, who has spoken about the role of science, technology and traditional knowledge in tackling climate change.

The UN is mooting the inclusion of genetic resources in guidelines for national climate change adaptation plans to support food security in developing countries.

Guidelines adopted this month by the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture within the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) set out step-by-step advice for safeguarding a healthy gene pool. This includes ensuring access to a wide variety of plant, animal and microbe species through seed banks, environmental protection programmes and research.

The guidelines chime with advice from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which helps countries create national adaptation plans. But according to an FAO statement, it remains to be seen whether the FAO’s guidelines will become an official part of the UNFCCC guidelines on national adaptation plans. The FAO commission is pushing for this to happen, it said in its statement.

“Having the right seeds and breeds is absolutely essential for climate change adaptation.”

Linda Collette, Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

Similar guidelines already exist for health and water issues, so it is time that genetic resources are acknowledged in the adaptation process, says Linda Collette, the secretary of the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.

“People do not realise the importance of genetic resources in the climate change debate,” she says.

“Having the right seeds and breeds is absolutely essential for climate change adaptation.”

Within the DNA of the world’s species lie genes that can help mainstream crops become more productive and resistant to harsh conditions, she says. For instance, a gene found in a traditional rice species helps commercial varieties deal better with floods. So-called scuba rice, which can survive being submerged for up to two weeks, is now grown by five million farmers.

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The voluntary guidelines aim to instil in policymakers a sense that good climate change policy safeguards biological richness. Ideally, these policymakers would then create a national adaptation plan that takes genetic resources into account, the FAO hopes. Suggestions in the guidelines include using climate scenarios to predict where threats to genetic diversity will come from, and assessing how national economic and social policies affect access to plants and livestock.

But Rima Alcadi, an advisor at UN agency the International Fund for Agricultural Development, believes that a top-down approach can only protect genetic diversity so far. Up to 90 per cent of seed propagation and protection in developing countries is informal, she points out. Therefore, she says, giving local communities a central role in their conservation is essential.

“There needs to be a two-way flow from the farmer all the way up,” says Alcadi.

Achim Dobermann, director of Rothamsted Research, a UK-based agricultural research centre, has more fundamental concerns about how countries protect genetic diversity. Governments often preserve their genetic resources by sharing less with other countries, he warns.

Ultimately, this protectionism could harm research, which relies on accessing the most-promising genes, no matter where they naturally exist, he says.