17 March 2011Maccarese, Italy

Agrobiodiversity for people's livelihood

in Central Asia

Central Asia

• The Region by N.I. Vavilov is one of centres of origin and domestication of globally important crops:

- Cereals- Vegetables- Fruit trees- Forages

Agrobiodiversity

•Drought (150-200 mm of annual precipitation) in combination with high air temperature (+45oC) and lack of water resources

•Soil Salinity (50% in Uzbekistan)

•Drying of the Aral Sea

•Agriculture and non-wood forest products contributes about 30% of the Region’s economy

•Wheat and cotton are the major agricultural commodities

Constrains in Agriculture Development

• Lack of arable lands (0.8 ha/capita in average)

• Low soil fertility (40% of organic matters is withdrawn every year)

• Lack of fertilizers ( reduce by 73%)

• Transition from large collective farms to small individual farms

• Lack of small mechanization

• Poor seed production system(governments support only cotton and

wheat)

Constrains in Agriculture Development

Partner CountriesPartner Countries

Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan

ObjectivesObjectives

• Conservation of the unique high diversity of wild and cultivated fruit species in CA

• Enhancement of farmers’ production and livelihood strategies

Project “In Situ/On farm Conservation and Use of Agrobiodiversity in Central

Asia”

1. Policy and legislation: Providing options to policy-makers for strengthening legal and policy frameworks; increase awareness on agrobiodiversity value

2. Knowledge and methodologies: Assessing, documenting and managing local varieties of horticulture crops and wild fruit species in a sustainable way;

3. Capacity building: across all relevant aspects to strengthen diversity conservation at local, national and regional levels.

4. Collaboration and partnership: Promote broad stakeholder participation in agrobiodiversity management to ensure sustainability project activities

Project Components

Target Crops

• Apple

• Apricot

• Almond

• Grapevine

• Pear

• Pistachio

• Pomegranate

• Fig

• Walnut

• Mulberry

• Sea-buckthorn&Currant

Increased knowledge

• Distribution and diversity level

• Planting material multiplication (seed) system

• Management (conservation and use) practices

Increased knowledgeDiversity level:

In situ – Promising forms

• Walnut (Juglans regia) – 28

• Pistachio (Pistacia vera) – 19

• Apple (Malus sieversii) – 27

• Cherry plum (Prunus cerasifera) – 11

• Apricot (Prunus armeniaca) -16

Diversity level:

On farm – local varieties

• Grapevine - 160

• Apple – 145

• Apricot – 143

• Pear – 32

• Pomegranate – 26

• Mulberry – 15

Increased knowledge

Increased knowledge

65 demonstration plots in farmers’ orchards (430 local varieties):

• Kazakhstan – 12

• Kyrgyzstan -7

• Tajikistan -14

• Turkmenistan – 10

• Uzbekistan - 22

• Kazakhstan – 11

• Kyrgyzstan -7

• Tajikistan - 9

• Turkmenistan – 10

• Uzbekistan - 16

Increased knowledge54 nurseries (800, 000 saplings annually)

Richness of Fruit tree varieties in Central Asia (5 countries)

Total number of Fruit tree varieties used (or the pool of available fruit tree diversity) in different production management spaces in Central Asia (5 countries)

almon

d

apric

ot

apple

grap

epe

ar

pista

chio

pom

egra

nate

walnut

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

Traditional

overall

orchard

home garden

Mean household richness (all varieties) in Home Gardens and Orchards

Household Richness vs EvennessAbove the line:

Higher dominance with much richness at low frequencies:

Below the line:

More even frequency distribution of fruit varieties:

Capacity Building

Target groups:

• Farmers and local communities

• Researchers and instructors

• Policy makers

• Forest officers

Capacity Building5 Regional Training Centres:

• Kazakhstan – Socio-economic studies

• Kyrgyzstan – Walnut GR

• Tajikistan – Apricot GR

• Turkmenistan – Pomegranate

• Uzbekistan – Molecular Markers

8 National Training Centres

Annually:

• 300 farmers and forest dwellers

• 30 researchers and policy makers

Partnership and collaboration

• Collaboration and partnership between scientists and farmers

• Collaboration among farmers (Farmers’ Association)

• Collaboration between countries in the region

Strengthened PolicyIn situ Conservation:

• Proposals on establishment and extension of protected areas

• Wild fruit species are included in the List of valuable wood species of national Forest Codes

• Law “Conservation of crop genetic resources” in Tajikistan

• Law “Conservation of plant genetic resources” in Kazakhstan

Strengthened PolicyOn farm Conservation:

• Government’s subsidies to the farmers, growing fruit crops in Kazakhstan

• Programme on supporting fruits and grapes production in Uzbekistan

Farmers’ Rights:

• Roster of local varieties of fruit crops and farmers-custodians of these varieties in Uzbekistan

• Proposal on patenting farmers’ varieties of fruit crops in Tajikistan

Strengthened PolicyAccess and sharing benefits in free and restricted access :

Model Agreements:

• Planting material and germplasm of local varieties of fruit crops maintained in demonstration plots and nurseries

• Fruit crops cultivation and management technologies

• Traditional knowledge of farmers

• Information on distribution and diversity level

• Training manuals

• Policy recommendations

Public AwarenessPA materials:

• Leaflets and posters

• Articles in papers and journals

• TV and radio interviews, press conferences, mass media tours

• Round table discussions with farmers and local authorities

• Agro-theatre performances

• Video-films on the project crops and farmers-custodians

THANK YOU