Repatriation/Reintroduction
The return of traditional cultivars to the farmer’s communities whose ancestors developed and conserved these landraces for millennium and which are still located in the micro-centers of potato diversity, is termed repatriation. This activity has a very important impact for CIP’s germplasm use including:
- The restoration of diversity and variability of cultivated potatoes in the Andean biodiversity micro-centers;
- The restoration of local productivity by replacing seed stocks with pathogen-free accessions contributing to increased food security, productivity and poverty alleviation;
- Mitigating the challenges and impacts of climate change by the introduction of traditional cultivars tolerant/resistant to biotic and abiotic stresses.
Since 1997, 89 communities have received over 6000 samples of cultivated potato from the CIP genebanks, comprising >1,250 accessions or almost 30% of the CIP collection of native landraces.
Contact
René Gomez
Cultivated Potato Curator
r.gomez@cgiar.org
