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Productive and associated biodiversity in the northern interandean valley of Ecuador

Abstract:

In the northern Interandean Valley of Ecuador, the agriculture based on monocultures lacks of sustainability due increasing soil and water degradation, and instability in market prices. This situation requires diversifying into crops and agrosystems. The aim of this paper is to attract attention to the high local agrodiversity and the associated wild flora. We have identified 46 cultivated species at commercial and familiar scale, and 41 associated wild species in forest fragments in the intensively cultivated landscape of the valley between 2700 and 3200 m.a.s.l. While commercial agriculture don’t pay attention to relief and soil conditions and is concentrated on potato, pastures for milk production, and few leguminous (lima beans, peas and lupine), the familiar garden on small plots and best soils includes a wide array of agrodiversity (tubers, cereals, fruits, aromatics and therapeutics, ornamentals and wood species). The number of species duplicated when associated wild flora species are included. We propose to incorporate native and introduced species from the familiar garden progressively into the commercial agriculture, and to use associated wild species for soil restoration, as way to promote changes from a highly specialized agriculture, based on high technological and agrochemical input but low sustainability, into a multifunctional and diversified agriculture, looking for more sustainability.