Research & reports

Galluzzi G., Eyzaguirre P., Negri V. · Biodiversity and Conservation 19:3635-3654 · Global

Reviews home gardens worldwide as hotspots conserving high inter- and intra-specific genetic diversity, especially traditional crop varieties and landraces, linking agrobiodiversity conservation with cultural diversity and local knowledge.

van de Wouw M., Kik C., van Hintum T., van Treuren R., Visser B. · Plant Genetic Resources 8(1):1-15 · Global

Reviews the concept of genetic erosion in crops at the crop, variety and allele levels, analyzing the loss of diversity through replacement of landraces by modern cultivars and the research challenges involved.

cdoyle · · Ireland

Celebrity Chef Richard Corrigan visited the Letterkenny Community Gardens in Donegal, Ireland, during the County Enterprise Board’s ‘Enterprise Week’. He emphasized the importance of community involvement in growing healthy food and cultivating native, indigenous varieties.

Hiran Moran Ramon Soriano-Robles · Ateliê Geográfico · Mexico (Mexico City)

In peri-urban agriculture in Mexico City, a traditional multi-cropping agro-ecosystem combining diverse species like maize, beans, and amaranth is preserved. Maize and amaranth are central to productive activities and are part of Mexico City's biological and cultural heritage. The conservation and utilization of this diversity can enhance the genetic potential of native crops, contribute to local agricultural development and sustainability, and potentially offer alternatives for a future global food crisis.

Emma Schroeder, Daniel J. Arp · · United States

In a 2010 interview with Emma Schroeder, Dan Arp recounted his experiences living in Eagle Heights as a graduate student in the late 1970s. Arp shared his recollections of participating in the gardens with fellow Eagle Heights residents, discussing the variety of plants and vegetables grown, organic gardening practices, weeds, pesticides, and irrigation. This interview was conducted for inclusion in a Master's thesis focusing on the Eagle Heights Community Gardens.

C. Clare Hinrichs · · United States (Pennsylvania)

This paper argues for sociologists' engagement with sustainable food systems, illustrating the urgency of agricultural and food issues through sketches. One sketch highlights the 2009 tomato blight in the Northeast, which devastated crops from commercial to home gardens. This blight was traced to tomato starts from large nurseries supplying major retailers, demonstrating how local food can be linked to large-scale industrialized agriculture.

Yamane Kyoko, Lü Ning, Ohnishi Ohmi · Breeding Science, 59(1): 55-65 · Japan

Analyzing 25 chloroplast SSR loci across 59 cultivated radish accessions and 23 wild Raphanus accessions, the study found evidence for at least three independent domestication events and high genetic diversity in cultivated radish.

Buchmann C. · Human Ecology · Cuba (Trinidad de Cuba)

Using ethnobotanical fieldwork in Trinidad de Cuba, this study shows how home gardens serve as the most adaptable local land resource, with garden composition and management adapting in response to major events such as the Soviet collapse, bolstering household food security and social-ecological resilience.

Pernilla Ouis, Ebba Lisberg Jensen · Malmö University Publications (Malmö University) · Sweden (Malmö)

This article examines the cultural parallelism between biological and cultural diversity as manifested in allotment garden areas in Malmö, Sweden, from a historical perspective. Using empirical data from interviews with allotment gardeners of different ethnic origins across Malmö, it shows how people bring their old plants and exchange varieties and species. This practice is argued to sometimes enhance contact and integration, and other times symbolize difference, contact with the country of origin, or ethnic identity.

Xu Hong-Xia, Jing Tao, Tomooka Norihiko, Kaga Akito, Isemura Takehisa, Vaughan Duncan A. · Genome, 51(9): 728-738 · Japan

Using 13 SSRs on 616 azuki accessions from eight Asian countries, the study found highly diverse Japanese wild germplasm, supporting Japan as a domestication center, while cultivated azuki from China, Korea, and Japan were genetically distinct.

· Society & Natural Resources · United States

Case study of a nonprofit heritage seed bank (the Seed Savers Exchange), examining the cultural significance of heirloom seed saving and exchange.

María de los A Pino, Loracnis Hernández, María E Dominí, Arturo Ocampo Ramírez, Z. Terán, Eduardo Calves · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Cuba

This study in San José de las Lajas and Arroyo Naranjo, Cuba, aimed to assess if participatory variety selection and farmer experimentation could introduce, adopt, and disseminate plant biodiversity in urban banana cultivation. Results demonstrated the potential of participatory methodologies to introduce and adopt materials from an agrobiodiversity fair, with selection differences based on criteria and municipal contexts. This provided initial evidence for such urban cultivation experiences.

Camacho Villa T. C., Maxted N., Scholten M., Ford-Lloyd B. · Plant Genetic Resources 3(3):373-384 · Global

A foundational paper proposing a working definition of a landrace as a dynamic, locally adapted, genetically diverse population with historical origin, lacking formal crop improvement and tied to traditional farming systems.

María de los A Pino, María E Dominí, A. Ramírez, Loracnis Hernández, Marı́a Rosa Ponce, Eduardo Calves, Z. Terán, Ania Yong, H. Ríos · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Cuba

This study demonstrated the feasibility of applying participatory plant breeding as a means for urban farmers to access agricultural diversity, through experimentation with participatory methodologies in an urban context. Local actors from the municipalities of San José de las Lajas and Arroyo Naranjo were also involved, leading to the establishment of a working methodology and an increase in diversity for tomato, bean, plantain, and lettuce crops. Training was also provided on the management of these crops, biofertilizers, and artisanal conservation of this diversity.

Dream of Wild Health · Dream of Wild Health · United States

Dream of Wild Health (DWH), founded in 1998 (its predecessor Peta Wakan Tipi began in 1986), is a Native-led nonprofit. On its 30-acre farm in Hugo, Minnesota, it runs Indigenous seed-saving, traditional food and youth education programmes, and operates an Indigenous food network from its Minneapolis office. In 2022 the farm produced 13.5 tons of food; as of 2024 it had 20 full-time staff and had planted 1,000 trees since 2022.

Tripp R., Louwaars N. · Food Policy · Global

Analyzes how seed laws and regulatory systems shape farmers' freedom over their own seed and informal seed systems, presenting policy choices for reforming seed regulation in developing countries.

Hammer K., Knüpffer H., Xhuveli L., Perrino P. · Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 43:329-336 · Mediterranean

A classic study comparing collecting missions decades apart in Albania and South Italy, quantifying genetic erosion of landraces at 72.4% and 72.8% respectively.

Brush S. B. · Crop Science 35(2):346-354 · Global

A foundational paper presenting three cases of ongoing farmer maintenance of landraces—potatoes in the Peruvian Andes, maize in southern Mexico and wheat in western Turkey—and the rationale for in situ conservation.

Lee M · PubMed · Ethiopia

In Ethiopia, urban agriculture faces significant challenges due to government disapproval of public land use for farming and difficulty in obtaining credit. A 1983 survey in Addis Ababa found that 17% of 1352 households produced their own food on less than 25 sq. meters, with 90% of non-farmers citing lack of land. Despite urban agricultural cooperatives demonstrating 70% higher member income, their lack of government legalization prevents access to loans for productivity improvement.