Strengthening cultural beliefs and trademark of a tribe: diversity and use of upland rice landraces and traditional varieties of Bukidnon [Philippines]

Bukidnon is largely a corn-, pineapple-, and sugarcane-producing province. However, it has unique niches for upland rice cultivation. Enhancing upland rice production is one of the solutions to help realize the goal of rice self sufficiency in the country. Or even if to just alleviate poverty in the upland agro-ecosystems. Improved genotypes contribute to this goal at a relatively low cost to farmers. Unique landraces or traditional varieties offer potentially untapped genes for rice crop improvement. This study determined the availability of upland rice landraces and traditional varieties (URLTVs) in selected areas of Bukidnon, estimated the diversity of available genotypes, and documented their use and importance. Twenty-four barangays [villages] from 10 municipalities and 2 cities were surveyed from November 2010 to May 2011. Interviews, seed sourcing and evaluation of 13 seed characteristics were done. Data analysis used Pr5oc ANOVA and CORR of SAS v.9. Shannon-Weaver's Diversity Index (SWDI) was also computed to further estimate phenotypic diversity. One hundred forty URLTVs were collected, of which 66 were from Barangay Matupe, San Fernando. Over all, 82 genotypes were sourced from San Fernando whose people were mostly of the Matigsalug tribe. As per ANOVA, only lemma and palea color (LPC), lemma:apiculus color (LAC), and caryopsis:pericarp color differed among municipalities/cities. However, as per SWDI, 100 seed weight, grain length and width, grain thickness, caryopis length and width, and LAC were highly diverse (H'=0.76 to 0.88). The ULVTVs were mostly grown for household consumption. But some were used as church offering, food for special occasions and to reduce chemical inputs. For the Matigsalugs URLTVs serve to strengthen their cultural beliefs and as trademarks for their tribal group.