HUAMA, Cuzco, Peru, May 16 (IPS) - In South America's Andes mountain region, indigenous women have traditionally been responsible for selecting, conserving and managing seed potatoes from the countless native varieties of the crop, thus ensuring diversity and continued production while contributing to food security among their people.The conservation of thousands of native varieties of the potato (Solanum tuberosum), each with its own unique taste, nutritional value and climate-resistant traits, has taken on greater importance than ever this year. One of the reasons behind the current global food crisis is that human survival is currently dependent on just a handful of plant species, experts warn.
CUZCO, Peru, Apr 28 (IPS) - Thousands of varieties of potato (Solanum tuberosum), one of the most widely-eaten and well-known foods in the world, have been developed in the heart of South America's Andes mountains, where the crop was domesticated more than 8,000 years ago.Peru is home to the world's biggest germplasm bank of potatoes, containing seeds, tissue culture and plants from 5,000 varieties. The biologists, geneticists and agronomic engineers working with the non-profit International Potato Centre (CIP), which began to collect samples in Lima in 1971, carry out lab and field research with the help of rural communities. Of the 4,500 native and 500 improved or modern varieties preserved by the CIP, more than 2,500 are native to Peru.
I saw a programme on TV about it where some markets have 15 - 20 kinds of clay on sale for cooking, each with slightly different properties and taste implications.
They even swapped the clays between continents and the testers, on tasting the clays, made suggestions about what these would be good for that were in pretty good agreement with their actual use. keep to the Fen Causeway
