Читать книгу Quinoa - Atul Bhargava - Страница 25

This zone, lying near Lake Titicaca and the northern highlands, represents a relatively temperate and watered region. Annual average precipitation is about 600 mm, which determines various possibilities for diversifiying the cropping system. Quinoa is associated with other crops such as potato, barley, oats, beans and various tubers. Quinoa from this region is mainly produced for home consumption or local markets. The associated crops that are present in the lake region are often rare and do not appear in the rest of the Bolivian Highland because precipitation decreases sharply to the south. In the northern and central highlands, soils are relatively rich in water and minerals; quinoa seed is broadcast or sown in rows, unlike the southern highlands where it is grown in pockets to optimize water resources.

In this zone, the quinoas are small plants of different colours adapted to the shores of Lake Titicaca, and have a variable content of saponin and a vegetative period of 6 months. They produce small to medium grains, have less resistance to cold and drought, and can sometimes grow in saline soils. They are generally sown in aynokas, an ancestral system of management and utilization (Mujica and Jacobsen, 2000), or in a mixture of varieties. Plants in the highlands are little branched and have a unique panicle, with abundant foliage. In this part of the northern highlands, quinoas are moderately resistant to mildew (Peronospora farinosa Fr.), and are attacked by young plants cutters (Feltia experta Walker), Kona Kona (Eurisacca quinoae Povolny), and by birds on the shore of Lake Titicaca. When there is a moisture deficit, the lower leaves turn yellow and drop off. These quinoas of the northern highlands are usually called Jiura. They normally require an annual rainfall of between 700 and 800 mm, and can grow at an altitude of 3850 m. Examples of names for theses quinoas include Kancolla, Blanca de July, Chullpi and Pasankalla in Puno, Peru and La Paz, Bolivia.