Level of diversity of traditional rice varieties in community genebanks of selected sites in Quirino, Iloilo Antique, Davao Oriental [Philippines], 2016

The UNDP-FAO-supported project 'Integrating the Conservation of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture into Decentralized Landscape Management for Food Security and Biodiversity Conservation in Critical Eco-regions of the Philippines' conducted in four focus sites in key biodiversity areas revealed that traditional rice variaties (TRVs) were lost due to replacement with high yielding varieties and cash crops. Yet, communities continue to maintain TRVs for: 1) specific preference/taste, 2) health, 3) food security, and 4) adaptability to environmental stresses. Community genebanking customized to local preferences and conditions combined with Conservation Field Schools formed the main intervention to strengthen local conservation capacity. Out if 134 TRVs across all sites were identified in a participatory inventory, 94 were maintained in the community genebanks and characterized based on endosperm type, awning, awn color, lemma palea pubescence and sterile lemma length. Location mean diversity indices were: 0.51 (moderate) in Quirino, 0.42 (moderate) in Davao Oriental, 0.34 (moderate) in Iloilo, and 0.28 (low) in Antique. Across all site, use value is a key driver of conservation, with the importance of rice as a staple reflected by the low diversity (index = 0.3) in endosperm type (non-glutinous). Moderate diversity was noted for other characters. Possible association between diversity of TRVs with socio-economic and cultural practices is implied in the higher indices observed in indigenous communities in Quirino and Davao Oriental. In Quirino, community genebank design and management were highly influenced by the Ifugao and Bugkalot tribal cultures. There were fewer TRVs in the community genebanks than in the inventory; thus, it is recommended that diversity analysis for all TRVs in the inventory be compared with that of community genebanks, if possible. Understanding the drivers of genetic resources conservation (and erosion) is important in designing interventions for community genebanking.