Читать книгу Quinoa - Atul Bhargava - Страница 24

From many generations of farmers’ selection, quinoa today presents high variability and genetic diversity that allows it to adapt to different ecological environments (valleys, highlands, salt flats, etc.). It can tolerate different relative humidity conditions (from 40% to 88%), a large range of altitudes (from sea level up to 4000 m) and a wide range of temperatures (from −8°C to 38°C). This shows its high adaptation to climate change and its potential for agricultural development in other parts of the world. But, in order to understand where the quinoas could be used in the future, we need to better understand the diversity of the actual contexts of cultivation in its area of origin.

Different types of quinoa exist in the Andean region whose characteristics vary from one agroecological zone to another. They differ in behaviour, phenology, morphology, cultivation technology, resistance to biotic and abiotic factors and utilization. There are eight quinoa typologies to describe its diversification and utilization according to its agroecological zone: the Altiplano (northern Andean highlands); the shore of salt lakes (southern Andean highlands); the inter-Andean valleys; arid zones and dry conditions (eastern Andean highlands); high altitudes and cool climates; coastal regions and near the sea; jungle and tropical zones; high rainfall and humidity zones. Wild relatives of quinoa have both nutritional and medicinal uses.