Achievement

Trainee Mary Saunders is studying socioeconomic and environmental factors that influence on-farm crop genetic resource management. She recently completed field work for her research on tartary buckwheat landrace diversity in Yunnan. She conducted household surveys in 44 villages and collected seed from 295 landrace populations for genetic fingerprinting using AFLP. Her research uses a landscape genetics approach to identify factors important for tartary buckwheat genetic resource conservation. Preliminary results suggest the strong role of ethnic culture combined with suitable growing environments in tartary buckwheat landrace conservation. They also show a marked decline in tartary buckwheat cultivation in its center of origin.