the sea
This group of quinoas show characteristics specific to their environment, which includes an average annual rainfall of about 500–650 mm spread over 4–5 months and a high evapotranspiration index (Bazile et al., 2010; Núñez et al., 2010). The plants are adapted to salty and sandy soils. Small-scale farmers maintain this quinoa in marginal conditions along with other crops such as cereals. In the south of Chile, Mapuche women conserve a high diversity of landraces in home gardens, associated with cultural uses (Aleman et al., 2010; Thomet et al., 2010).
These quinoas have medium branched plants, with glomerular panicles, and are salt-tolerant with small leaves. All of them have small and hard grain, usually protected by a perigonium that strongly adheres to the grain. The plants are resistant to excessive moisture, some of them growing in areas with over 2000 mm of annual rainfall, such as the Precordillera. In the southern region of Chile, these quinoas are called Kinwa or Dawe (Sepúlveda et al., 2004). These types have various uses as food, for example, in preparing beverages, and the grain flour is sometimes cooked in water or with soup.
Examples of landraces include: Quinoa blanca in the central zone of Chile; Kinwa mapuche, Lito, Faro, Islunga in Temuco and Valdivia, Chile. Currently Altiplano and valley varieties have adapted perfectly to the Peruvian coast, using drip and sprinkler irrigation, obtaining yields of 7.5 t/ha.
2.5.7 Quinoas from jungle and tropical zones
This zone has tall, highly branched quinoas with a long vegetative period, large leaves typical of chenopods, bright and intense colours, large and loose panicles, usually amarantiform (loose), and small grains. They are resistant to mildew and excessive moisture, and can even grow in flooded soils. Quinoa plantings in this zone are associated with other plants such as maize, cassava, fruit trees and potatoes. The plants grow at altitudes between 800 and 1800 m that have an annual rainfall of over 1500 mm, and are heat and evapotranspiration resistant.
Example of landraces include: Tupiza, A. Marangani in the Yungas of Bolivia, and Sandia, Puno, Ambo-Huánuco, Lares-Cusco, Marcapata, Cusco in Peru.
2.5.8 Quinoa from high rainfall and humidity zones
These quinoas are tall, highly branched, large panicled, small grained, high yielding and have a long vegetative period. The plants have a wide and thick root system that can grow in poorly drained soils. They are resistant to lodging and heavy rainfall (2000–3000 mm), with the lower leaves dropping when there is excessive moisture in the soil. These types are resistant to mildew but are strongly attacked by snails and slugs, and chewing and leaf miner larvae. The plants of this zone are consumed mainly as a leafy vegetable.
Example of landraces include: Tupiza, Nariño, Sogamoso, Tunkahuan in El Dorado, Sogamoso, Colombia; Mérida in Venezuela; Tupiza in Bolivia and Amazonas, Peru.
In this category, the quinoas from the Andes are short-day type, while those from coastal and southern Chile require a long photoperiod.
2.5.9 Wild relatives of quinoa
Quinoa is a sympatric plant, because areas of distribution and expansion are always accompanied by their wild relatives, which cross over and maintain variability. In each of the types of quinoa, specific wild relatives can be found (Mujica, 2010). The most common species are C. carnosolum Moq. (Chocca chiwa) and C. quinoa ssp. melanospermum Hunz. (ayara, ajara or aara) in the Andean area of Titicaca; C. petiolare Kunth., C. hircinum Schard. (Jatacco), C. insisum and C. ambrosioides in the inter-Andean valleys; C. carnosolum, C. hircinum and C. petiolare (aaras, ajaras) in the salares; C. petiolare and C. hircinum in the dry, arid and high zones; C. pallidicaule Aellen, C. hircinum and C. quinoa ssp. melanospermum in the high and cold areas (having valuable genes for resistance to drought and cold) (Mujica et al., 2008); C. ambrosioides, C. quinoa ssp. melanospermum and other introduced species such as C. album (Hierba de gallinazo o cenizo) in the coastal areas (Mujica and Jacobsen, 2006); C. ambrosioides L. (Paicco) and C. insisum (Asna paicco or Arka paicco) in the Yungas and tropical zones (used to control gastrointestinal amoebas); C. carnosolum and C. quinoa ssp. melanospermum in the humid zones and high rainfall area (consumed by the Andean people as a vegetable and for medicinal uses) (Mujica, 2007).
There are other quinoas in Central America, in the central valley of Mexico, called Huatzontle, used for their inflorescences and leaves. These are medium-sized plants, with a high saponin content, and are not consumed as grains. Plants with green and yellow colours and medium-sized grains correspond to C. berlandieri ssp. nuttalliae or C. nuttalliae, and its wild relative is C. graveolens. The dish prepared with the inflorescences is called Capeado de huatzonthe.
2.6 Concluding Remarks
The domestication process for the genus Chenopodium, and for the species quinoa in particular, took place in various independent or linked areas over the same period or through migrations of people that conferred an adaptation to new ecological environments. So, current landraces are closely connected with specific geographical locations leading to the generation of distinct genotypes within the same species. These adaptations to specific agroecological regions generated five main ecotypes of the crop, which are associated with diversity sub-centres corresponding to the geographical regions and each of these groups displays high variability under specific agricultural practices. Considering these farmers’ practices under agro-meteorological constraints, a new typology for quinoa could separate eight typologies and wild relatives.
Through this high agrobiodiversity and wide ecology, the adaptation of Andean quinoa offers great potential to bring into production underutilized areas such as dry and salty fields. It confers the potential for these agricultural systems to adapt to climate change. Considerations about the importance of quinoa for subsistence agriculture and small-scale farms under low input systems are needed to implement new agricultural systems all around the world with quinoa species with respect to Andean local communities. Scenarios for the future diffusion of quinoa to newer areas should integrate the Farmers’ Property Rights and the Nagoya Protocol (attached to the Convention on Biological Diversity) that offers a framework for Access and Benefices Sharing.
The actual diffusion of quinoa across all the continents (North America, Europe, Asia and Africa) has occurred in diverse ways and has different objectives. But an international network that primarily includes researchers and farmers could provide an opportunity for better characterization and understanding of this species.
The biogeography of quinoa, an ancestral and highly nutritional crop, provides a global foresight of this underutilized crop in world agriculture, and also shows its broad geographic extension. Several aspects linked to its high genetic diversity and plasticity demonstrate that quinoa could become one of the most important crops of the South American Andes and could extend its area of cultivation in other contexts in the world giving, due respect to the farmers’ rights for the local communities from the areas of domestication.
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to express their appreciation to farmers who cared for their seeds for telling us their stories, and also to projects that made possible funding of reported research activities BRG08, IMAS (ANR07 BDIV 016-01) and IRSES (PIRSES-GA-2008-230862). We also gratefully acknowledge Dr Eric Jellen (BYU, USA), Dr Daniel Bertero (UBA, Argentina) and Ingrid von Baer (AgroGen,
