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Home gardens, cultivated plant diversity, and exchange of planting material in the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve area, northeastern Peruvian Amazon

Traditional peoples are often described as "stewards of agricultural diversity", yet little research has been conducted on the determinants of agrodiversity. This thesis focuses on agrodiversity and how peasant farmers build and maintain cultivated plant diversity in home gardens found in three distinct traditional communities along the Maranon river in the Peruvian Amazon---an upland mixed agricultural village, a lowland agricultural village, and a lowland fishing village. Data were gathered through household surveys (n = 192) and in-depth interviews (n = 112). Substantial variation in cultivated plant diversity was found among and within villages. Residents with the highest home garden agrodiversity tend to be among the wealthier households, and are more likely to have both established their own garden, and tended it for longer periods. Complex planting material exchange networks underlie the establishment and maintenance of home garden agrodiversity. The results underscore the importance of studying local variations in agricultural diversity, and exchange networks that bring agricultural planting stock to peasant farmers.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.29834
Date January 1999
CreatorsLerch, Natalie Corinna.
ContributorsCoomes, Oliver T. (advisor)
PublisherMcGill University
Source SetsLibrary and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation
Formatapplication/pdf
CoverageMaster of Arts (Department of Geography.)
RightsAll items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated.
Relationalephsysno: 001737979, proquestno: MQ54998, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest.

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