Andean rural knowledge for the conservation of agrobiodiversity in the face of extreme climatic phenomena: frosts

Abstract

The type of frost that worries the States with high Andean populations the most is not a relevant problem for the majority of indigenous communities, it is used rather to manufacture long-lasting food from species of local agrobiodiversity. The type of frost that worries the communities is the "agronomic" or "non-seasonal" that occurs unexpectedly in the agricultural season, causing damage to the development and productivity of local agrobiodiversity species, thereby reducing, food availability for indigenous communities, a problem rarely addressed by state institutions. Our research consisted of designing a defense system for agrobiodiversity against agronomic frosts based on local knowledge, technologies and knowledge, using the following research techniques: 1) ethnographic observation of behavior, causes, effects, frequency and intensity of the presence of frost, 2) semi-structured interviews with knowledge holders, 3) analysis of quantitative information from the meteorological station, plus bibliographic exploration to obtain qualitative information and 4) discussion of experts in the office for the design of a defense system and its validation in the communities where they will be applied. As a result, a system made up of three subsystems was obtained: immediate reaction subsystem, biophysical defense subsystem of agrobiodiversity and community resilience subsystem.