On-farm conservation of traditional rice (Oryza sativa L.) varieties in Central Cordillera, Philippines

On-farm conservation is increasingly being recognized as a complimentary strategy to ex situ conservation. Rice diversity on-farm still exists in the Central Cordillera. The study aims to assess how farmers managed existing diversity in Abra, Ifugao, Kalinga and Mt. Province in order to devise an operational on-farm approach to rice conservation. Results of the survey showed that diversity exists in the study sites based on the number of named varieties. There were 596 named varieties composed of 417 traditional, 60 modern and 119 glutinous. Varietal diversity was attributed to the diverse economic, social and cultural uses placed on each variety. Similarly, the Shannon-Weaver diversity index (H') indicates diversity in the morphological and molecular markers. The mean H' for qualitative, quantitative traits and molecular markers is 0.49, 0.85 and 0.74, respectively. Some varieties exhibited heterozygosity at the molecular level indicating some degree of outcrossing among varieties in farmers' fields. Cluster analyses revealed two major clusters where the photoperiod and non-photoperiod sensitive varieties belong to separate groups. However, groupings of varieties based on geographic origin were not established. An estimate of level of and potential for conservation was developed based on indicators. All provinces in Central Cordillera have moderate level of and potential for conservation. Significan t correlation was found between sex, language spoken, number of years of farming, bartering, not selling and level of conservation in Abra and Ifugao. This indicates that farmers who spoke many dialects and spent longer years in farming and females had higher level of and potential for conservation. Similarly, farmers who practice barter and not selling their produce had higher level of and potential for conservation. Farmers for millenium had maintained the rice diversity in Central Cordillera. This indicates that diversity is conserved on-farm in the study site. The threats to diversity identified in Central Cordillera are crop conversion and adoption of high yielding modern varieties. The complementation therefore of ex-situ and on-farm approaches in rice genetic resources conservation must be pursued.