Neglected and Underutilized
Species Community

There has been a dramatic erosion of crop diversity over the last century as a result of globalization trends and the promotion of Green Revolution practices aimed to increase yields through simplification of production systems. Thousands of edible plant species have been harvested and developed by agrarian communities through careful seed selection and saving throughout history. Yet modern agriculture has focused on the improvement and promotion of a mere handful of staple crops, in particular rice, wheat and maize, for which a small number of modern varieties now dominate production systems and diets around the globe.

The neglected and underutilized species  [1], overlooked by agricultural development, are central features in traditional food cultures and are vital for the survival of many rural communities farming in marginal lands. Nevertheless, these crops are being cultivated by fewer and fewer farmers; falling out of favour because they cannot match the productivity and market potential of introduced crops. Wild and semi-domesticated fruits, nuts, tubers and leafy vegetables, which provide important nutritional contributions to many rural populations, are also threatened by habitat loss and degradation. Lack of interest by younger generations means that the seeds and knowledge on neglected and underutilized species are not being transmitted and are at risk of being lost irreversibly.

On-Farm Conservation: Needs and Challenges

The simplification of production systems is highly problematic for the sustainability and nutritional value of our food systems. Different flavors and forms of food plants are not only vital to our cultural experience and heritage, their diversity also underpins the productivity, stability and adaptability of agricultural systems. Realizing the need for more sustainable and nutritious diets and faced with the challenge of climate change, there is growing awareness at grassroots, national and international levels of the urgent need to conserve crop genetic resources and to encourage diversification of production systems to strengthen food security.

Over the past decades, a commendable effort to conserve crop diversity has resulted in the establishment of more than 1,700 genebanks around the world that safeguard over 7.4 million crop samples. These valuable ex situ conservation efforts must be complemented, however, by parallel actions that encourage the maintenance of crop diversity in farmers’ fields and enhance its use to unleash its nutrition, livelihood and sustainability benefits. On-farm conservation enables the continuation of dynamic processes of crop adaptation to shifts in the environmental and socio-cultural context and also facilitates the preservation of knowledge that is essential to the cultural valorization of the crops.

The critical importance of strengthening on-farm conservation is well recognized but developing sound methodology presents a great challenge as the drivers of crop diversity erosion are society-wide and global. Markets, policies, environmental, social and environmental factors interactively motivate farmers choices to plant or abandon their traditional seeds. Hence action is required at all these levels in order to achieve an impact.

Our Research

We are developing and testing tools to support the on-farm conservation of neglected and underutilized species across a multitude of projects. Approaches that have been explored include:

• Value chain development: aims to increase incentive for farmers to cultivate neglected and underutilized species through market interventions. The holistic approach  [2] explored in the IFAD-NUS project is sensitive to the conservation of target crops, keeping awareness that value chain development can also encourage genetic erosion by promotion of just a few varieties. The approach works to conserve varieties ex situ and to promote on-farm conservation through a variety of methods other than the value chain interventions themselves.
• Diversity fairs: raise awareness of the status and value of crop diversity and encourage seed sharing and exchange of traditional knowledge. Prizes and social recognition motivate continued cultivation of diversity.
• Recognizing and leveraging the work of custodian farmers, champions of crop diversity conservation.
• Community seed banks
• Payment for agricultural biodiversity conservation services: providing incentive (financial, farm inputs, infrastructure, seed, etc.) to farmers for cultivating target crops.
• Encouraging links between ex situ and on-farm conservation
• Developing a red-list for monitoring the status of crop plant species

On-farm conservation is a key research area for Bioversity International that is not only focused on neglected and underutilized species. Visit the Bioversity International webpage  [3] for full information on their research concerning on-farm conservation.