TITLE:
On Farm Conservation of Crop Genetic Resource: Declining De Facto Diversity and Optimal Funding Strategy
AUTHORS:
Diwakar Poudel
KEYWORDS:
Crop Genetic Resource, Conservation, Landraces, Cost Minimization, Nepal
JOURNAL NAME:
Natural Resources,
Vol.6 No.3,
March
13,
2015
ABSTRACT: Crop genetic resources
(CGRs) are crucial natural resource which ensure food or livelihood security of
billions of people today as well as ensure future agricultural innovations.
However, the CGR diversity remaining in in situ, particularly in subsistence
farming is becoming extinct due to change in economic and technological
development over time. An optimal funding strategy is required for conservation
of these CGRs. In this paper, I have discussed an economic perspective on why
and how the De Facto crop genetic resources (CGRs) diversity declines with changing economic and
environmental context. The model maximizes the net revenue from the farmers
land allocation strategy to different CGRs under economic and technical
constraints with linear demand and cost functions. Furthermore, the model
suggests how to minimize the cost of on
farm conservation of these crop genetic resources in situ (or ex situ)
without forfeiting farmer’s well-being in a changing perspective of economics
and technology. The theoretical model developed in this study is employed to
demonstrate the applicability for on farm conservation of rice genetic diversity in Nepal. The study suggests an optimal
fund allocation strategy that minimizes the cost of conservation by (i) identifying
particular CGRs (rice landraces) that are prone to extinct from the community
and (ii) categorizing the farmers in the community having minimum cost of
conservation for those particular landraces. As the model maximizes the farmers’
revenues, it could ensure better livelihood of individuals in the community
while minimizing the cost of in situ conservation of biodiversity on
farm.