Distribution of Agrobiodiversity in Home Gardens a

Authors: Mathilde PerraultArchambault Oliver T Coomes

Publish Date: 2008/06/13

Volume: 62, Issue: 2, Pages: 109-

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Abstract

Distribution of Agrobiodiversity in Home Gardens along the Corrientes River Peruvian Amazon This paper examines crop species diversity in home gardens of traditional communities along a remote tributary in northeastern Peru A largescale survey was conducted of 300 gardens in 15 villages along a 150 km reach of the Corrientes River Study villages vary notably in community size ethnicity of residents Achuar Urarina mestizo and proximity to the regional town Trompeteros as well as to oil wells Gardens were inventoried and interviews conducted with garden tenders to provide data on socioeconomic characteristics of the household and contextual conditions Multiple regression analyses identified the determinants of species diversity Results indicate high crop diversity—the highest yet reported for sites in the Amazon basin—particularly among the Achuar people Garden species diversity is greatest in larger villages and surprisingly in those villages located nearer to the oil company Within villages households with larger land holdings and gardens more inhouse labor and garden tenders who are older and female tend to have more diverse gardens A small number of households 15/300 were found to hold exceptional diversity often older and landwealthier households located on the outskirts of villages These farmers held on average three times the number of species as a typical village garden and 60 of all species encountered in the studyThis study was conducted with the financial assistance of the Fonds pour la Formation de Chercheurs et l’Aide à la Rercherche FCAR and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada SSHRC We are much indebted to Dr Carlos Manrique Padre Louis Castonguay Victor Villalobos to the managers field staff and medical team of Pluspetrol and to the researchers of the Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonia Peruana in Iquitos for their generous logistic and technical support Our deepest gratitude to Jaime Salazar Reynerio Macahuachi and the residents of the Corrientes River whose trust hospitality and unfailing patience made this study possible Our manuscript benefited significantly by the insightful and constructive comments of two anonymous reviewers and the editor Dan Moerman

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