Browsing by Autor "Ricardo Álvarez-Flores"

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Calling for a reappraisal of the impact of quinoa expansion on agricultural sustainability in the Andean highlands
(University of Tarapacá, 2014) Thierry Winkel; Ricardo Álvarez-Flores; Daniel Bertero; Pablo Cruz; Carmen Del Castillo; Richard Joffre; Santiago Peredo Parada; Luís Sáez Tonacca
The debate on the environmental and social sustentainability of quinoa in its area of major world production (southern highlands of Bolivia) revived with the acceptance by the United Nations of the Bolivian proposal to declare in 2013 as the Year of the Quinoa. Public debate focused on local impacts of quinoa expansion in the Southern highlands of Bolivia, denouncing several negative impacts of quinoa culture such as land degradation, socioeconomic disrupts and biodiversity loss. However, the global or at least the international implications of the expanding quinoa market were less debated and often in caricature, varying between culpability and ingenuity among consumers, while Andean producers were described as trapped by poverty or short sighted greed. If researchers are to make a relevant contribution to the debate on the impact of quinoa expansion on the social and environmental sustainability of the Andean agriculture, is it necessary to re-evaluate present knowledge and ignorance about local Andean production systems integrated with links at the global scales, taking into account local- global interactions. In the present paper are revisited some major ill- founded assertions commonly expressed in this debate and three lines of arguments are used to support the need for a more cautious and ethical approach to quinoa related issues.
Plant growth dynamics and root morphology of little-known species of <i>Chenopodium</i> from contrasted Andean habitats
(Canadian Science Publishing, 2013) Ricardo Álvarez-Flores; Thierry Winkel; David Degueldre; Carmen Del Castillo; Richard Joffre
Plant morphology determines the access to soil resources, a feature crucial for early growth in annual species. Plant growth and root traits in little-known species of Andean chenopods were compared with the hypothesis that plants from low-resource habitats show traits that enhance resource capture. Three cultivated Chenopodium populations (two populations of the tetraploid Chenopodium quinoa Willd., one population of the diploid Chenopodium pallidicaule Aellen) and one population of their wild tetraploid relative Chenopodium hircinum Schrad. were grown in pots under nonlimiting conditions over nine weeks of early vegetative growth. All populations followed the same sequence of biomass allocation and showed similar maximal values of shoot and root relative growth rates (RGR). Population differences in plant biomass, net assimilation rate, total root length, and specific root length were associated with seed mass ranking and species ploidy level. Chenopodium quinoa produced less branched stems and maintained high root RGR for a longer time than the other two species, and the C. quinoa population from low-resource habitat showed a faster main root growth. These results show that C. pallidicaule developed a plant growth syndrome adapted to cold, high-altitude habitats, while C. quinoa from low-resource habitats showed an improved capacity to explore soil at depth in early growth stages.