Seed safety diagnosis. Part II. Diversity of basic foods produced by small farmers

Abstract

The work was developed in Bahía Honda, Manicaragua and Gibara municipalities, located in the western, central and eastern Cuba respectively. Smallholder farms linked to the Local Agricultural Innovation Programme (PIAL, according its acronyms in Spanish) were visited. For the collection of information a face survey, structured with open and closed questions was used. Basic varietal diversity of species studied for Cuban food such as: rice, beans, corn, tomato, cassava and banana, whose productions depend of an appropriate supply of seeds. The results showed that in Bahía Honda a greater diversity of varieties and generally recorded in the three municipalities, an average of three varieties of each of the basic food species are used.  The varietal diversity potentially decreased with the increase in cultivated surface. The coexistence of local and improved varieties was demonstrated in the west and east farms of the country, while in the farms located in the central region food production is based mainly in planting local varieties. Analysis of the spatial distribution of each species, in order to know their potential for seed production in local agrifood strategic projection showed that coincidently maize is grown in small areas in most of the farms in the three municipalities which is an opportunity for diversification, meanwhile, it should be paid more attention to the cultivation of tomato in order to encourage their production as many farms.