A Study on Agrobiodiversity of Highland Barley (Hordeum vulgare var. nudum Hook. f.) in Shangri-la, SW China

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A Study on Agrobiodiversity of Highland Barley(Hordeum
vulgare var. nudum Hook. f.) in Shangri-la, SW China
Dao Zhiling
Kunming Institute of Botany (KIB), Chinese Academy of Sciences
Address: 132 Lanheilu, Kunming, Yunnan 650204, China
Phone: 86-871-5223232
Email: daozhl@mail.kib.ac.cn
August, 2007
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Table of Contents
Executive Summary.........................................................................................................3
Acknowledgements ……………………………………………………………………………5
Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………6
1. Research Objectives………………………………………………………………………...7
2. Study Area……………………………………………………………………………………..8
3. Research Methods………………………………………………………………………….10
4. Results………………………………………………………………………………………..13
5. Discussion and Recommendation……………………………………………………….20
6. Conclusions………………………………………………………………………………….22
References…………………………………………………………………………23
Appendix 1. The specimens collected in gardening and crop land……………….....25
Appendix 2. The specimens collected in collective forest……………………………..27
Appendix 3. The specimens collected in sacred forest…………………………………29
Appendix 4. The specimens collected in grassland……………………………………..32
List of Figures
Figure 1. Forest Systems of Reshuitang Village………………………………………………4
Figure 2. Highland Barley……………………………………………………………………….7
Figure 3. Highland Barley Drying House………………………………………………………7
Figure 4. Three different highland barley seeds being collected from field………………..7
Figure 5. Sketch map of Shangri-la and Reshuitang Village………………………………..8
Figure 6. Reshuitang Village……………………………………………………………………9
Figure 7. Different Cultivars of Highland Barley……………………………………………...9
Figure 8. Interview farmer in the field…………………………………………………………10
Figure 9. Interview farmers for indigenous knowledge of highland barley………………..11
Figure 10. Agrobiodiversity of Tibetan farming system……………………………………..12
Figure 11. Income Analysis of Reshuitang Village…………………………………………..18
List of Tables
Table 1. Cultivars of Highland Barley Cultivated in Shangri-la County……………………14
Table 2. Crops planted in Reshuitang Village………………………………………………..15
Table 3. Highland barley varieties in Rehuitang Village…………………………………….16
Table 4. Potato varieties and its information………………………………………………….17
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Executive Summary
Agricultural biodiversity or agrobiodiversity refers to the variety and variability of animals,
plants, and micro-organisms on earth that are important to food and agriculture which
result from the interaction between the environment, genetic resources and the
management systems and practices used by people. It takes into account not only genetic,
species and agro-ecosystem diversity and the different ways land and water resources
are used for production, but also cultural diversity, which influences human interactions at
all levels (FAO, 1998). It also has very close relationship with biodiversity (UNEP, 1994)
which has contributed in many ways to the development of human culture.
The multiple functions of agrobiodiversity can be mainly divided into three aspects:
agricultural biodiversity’s contributions to food and livelihood security, agricultural
biodiversity’s contributions to production and environmental sustainability, and its
contributions to rural development (Pimbert, 1999), which are close related to the
economic, social and environmental sustainability.
However, the agrobiodiversity in China has experiencing a great loss recently because of
the degraded and fragmentized habitat, monocultutre, the introduction and intruding of
exotic species, the polluted agriculture environment and overexploitation (Zhang, 1999).
The loss of agricultural biodiversity surely has exerted negative influence on its
contributions.
Inventory of highland barley of Shangri-la county is first step to understand how Tibetan
people traditionally cultivate and management in their agriculture system. The purpose of
this research is to understand the relationship between traditional management and
conservation of highland barley in Tibetan communities. The implications of conserving
genetic diversity of barley will be linked to Tibetan culture and to the conservation of other
forms of biodiversity.
The main research activities were:
a. Inventory of cultivars and landraces based on indigenous classification and
scientific determination;
b. The relationship between highland barley cultivation and local livelihood; how
traditional management of highland barley affects biodiversity conservation in
situ in local agro-ecosystem;
c. The seeds of highland barley cultivars and landraces were collected and stored
in Germplasm bank of Kunming Institute of Botany (home institute of applicant).
And the genetic resources collected will further contribute to the laboratory study
of genetic diversity of highland barley.
Household Agrobiodiversity Assessment (HH-ABA), Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA),
anthropological and ethnobotanical methods are applied to survey the current situation of
agrobiodiversity in the village. The results show that 28 cultivars of highland barley have
been traditionally cultivated in Shangri-la county. Exchange seed is a traditional and
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important way for keeping productivity and pest control measure of highland barley. The
results also reflect the losing trend of agrobiodiversity in no further future by comparing the
biodiversity in sacred forest ecosystems with traditional culture and management to the
collective forest system without, by illustrating the loss of the number of varieties of crops
and by showing the negative impact of the change of Tibetan people’s livelihood on
agrobiodiversity. And the Tibetan people’s way of life, the traditional culture and method
are major factors that influence agrobiodiversity. To conserve the agrobiodiversity to
promote the sustainable local development, six point of suggestions of measures on
control the factors are raised to provide a reference to local policy-makers.
Community Forest
Sacred Forest
Sub-alpine Grassland
Figure 1. Forest Systems of Reshuitang Village
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Acknowledgements
Thanks to all the Tibetan farmers of Shangri-la county, for not just offering me seeds of
highland barley and accepting my interviewing both in home and field, but also for having
practiced highland barley in their long history which provides the situation of research.
Thanks also to my colleagues and some graduate candidates, Dr. Li Rong, Mr. Liu Yitao,
Ms. Liu Yanchun, Yang Chunyan and Li Yali, for their great contribution to this study,
especially Ms. Liu Yanchun who did a lot of field work and wrote a scientific paper. Some
work of this research also get grant support from South-West Germplasm seed collection
program of The Ministry of Sciences and Technology of China, Genetic Assay and Study
of Crop Germplasm in and around (3rd), Japan, and Conservation and Use of Crop
Genetic Diversity to Control Pests and Diseases in Support of Sustainable Agriculture
(GEF/IPGRI). I am very grateful to Jeff McNeely, Nadine McCormick, Joshua Bishop,
Frederik Schutyser, Gonzalo Oviedo from the World Conservation Union (IUCN) and to
Diana Simon and Illana Kurtzig from Institute for International Education, for their support
and advice throughout the research. Finally, this research was made possible through
funding from Alcoa Foundation Conservation and Sustainability Fellowship Program.
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Introduction
The work being described in this paper focuses on the specific situations of
agrobiodiversity in a Tibetan village of Shangri-la, NW Yunnan, to analyze the factors
impacted agrobiodiversity, and on figuring out how to control these factors to conserve
agricultural biodiversity which would be helpful in the local development. There are
studies that paid attention to Northwest Yunnan (Xu et al., 2004; Willson, 2006; Yang et al.,
2003), and what they focused is on land use change and biodiversity impact, but not
exactly on agrobiodiversity of highland barley.
Highland barley (Hordeum vulgare var. nudum Hook. f.) is a variety of barley (Hordeum
vulgare L.) widely cultivated in highlands. It can be cultivated at an altitude of 4,200 –
4,500 meters above sea level in Tibetan areas and it is only one crop can be cultivated in
this high elevation . 77% of the world’s highland barley genetic resources is distributed in
China (Lu, 1995), which cultivated in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, covering Xizang, Yunnan,
Qinghai, Gansu and Sichuan and other related areas.
Highland barley is the staple crop of the local people living in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Over
20 million of people (mostly Tibetan) live on this unique crop. It is also the most important
and staple food for the Tibetan community in Shangri-la. It is believed that there is rich
nutrition and high energy in highland barley. The content of protein occupies about 15%.
The wine brewed from highland barley is the favorite drink of Tibetan. Its pliable straw is
good fodder for animals such as yaks, cattle, and sheep.
There is large variation in the morphological traits of barley which based on the intrinsic
genetic variation (Ma D. Q., 1991). There are glabrous and hairy glumes and the glume
awn could be longer than, equal to or shorter than glume; The spike shape could be
parallel, broad, club or triangular and the spike attitude could be completely erect,
intermediate or extremely bent; There are white-yellow and purple-black kernels; The
caryopsis could be covered or naked; The rachilla could be short or long; There are winter
and spring varieties and there are so much other diverse morphological traits.
Previous surveys showed that the morphological diversity of highland barley was also
very rich in Shangri-la. For example, there are different landraces with long awn, short
awn, falcate awn and non-awn types in terms of the variability of glume awn (personal
communication). Unfortunately, few studies have been done about the genetic diversity of
highland barley or that in Shangri-la. And this morphological diversity is the result of an
interaction between the genetic make-up of barley and not just ecological, but also human
factor (Kebebew, 2001). As agrobiodiversity also refers to management systems and
practices used by people, i.e., cultural diversity(FAO, 1998), adoption of traditional
farming practices that utilize and conserve biodiversity may ultimately improve
environmental quality and sustain the agricultural development, which is the aim of
agrobiodiversity. Conservation of human knowledge from traditional agroecosystems is
also an urgent priority, to support human societies that rely on its cultural services, and for
its potential for solving agricultural problems, now and in the future (DIVERSITAS, 2005).
Previous study which used the Participatory Rural Appraisal( PRA) (Theis et al, 1991)
method to learn the traditional management in Shangri-la also showed the traditional
Tibetan culture is still playing an important role there, in particular, in natural resource
management and farming systems of highland barley.
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1. Research Objectives
The goals of this project are to inventory cultivars and landraces of highland barley in
Shangri-la county of Yunnan Province from both scientific and indigenous aspects, and to
understand the relationship between traditional management and conservation of
highland barley in Tibetan communities. The implications of conserving genetic diversity of
barley will be linked to Tibetan culture and to the conservation of other forms of
biodiversity.
These goals were pursued through the following activities:
a. Inventory of cultivars and landraces based on indigenous classification and scientific
determination;
b. The relationship between highland barley cultivation and local livelihood; how
traditional management of highland barley affects biodiversity conservation in situ in
local agro-ecosystem;
c. The seeds of highland barley cultivars and landraces were collected and stored in
Germplasm bank of Kunming Institute of Botany (home institute of applicant). And
the genetic resources collected will further contribute to the laboratory study of
genetic diversity of highland barley.
Figure 2. Highland barley Figure 3. Highland barley drying house
Figure 4. Three different highland barley seeds being collected from field
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2. Study Area
Highland barley is widely cultivated in tibetan areas in western and south-western China.
This research is only limited at Shangri-la county of Yunnan Province because of limitation
of study time and grant. The cultivar and landrace investigation covered whole Shangri-la
county (townships and villages) and detail agrobiodiversity research had been studied in a
selection village called Reshuitang(Figure 5).
Shangri-la, which is officially belong to the Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture,
Northwest Yunnan, SW China, is located at the south of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the
east of Himalayas, the junction of Yunan, Tibet and Sichuan provinces. The
world-famous area called Three Parallel Rivers (Nujiang River, Lancang River and Jinsha
River) covers the whole Shangri-la County. The area is also a part of the Eastern
Himalayan, one of the biodiversity hotspots (Myers et al., 2000). Because of its unique
location, natural vegetations, agricultural ecosystems, biological species and cultivation
varieties are very abundant (Ne An et al, 2003) in Shangri-la, which provides the natural
biodiversity basis upon which the agrobiodiversity there depends. The Tibetan is the
dominant nationality in Shangri-la, whose traditional natural resource management
system and culture is regarded to be another important factor in forming its rich
agrobiodiversity.
Reshuitang
Shangri-la
Figure 5. Sketch map of Shangri-la and Reshuitang Village
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Reshuitang Village (Figure 5 and
Figure 6), which lies between
27º31.303’N, 99º50.681’E, is 40
kilometers away from the east of
Shangri-la county seat and is officially
belong to the Xiaozhongdian Township
(27º18’-27º44’N, 99º33’-99º59’E). With
typical characteristics of villages in
northwest Yunnan, Reshuitang Village
is surrounded by an intensive mix of
land uses with surrounding forests—a
large area of mixed crop land and
grassland in front of the village,
mountains of sacred forest and
collective forest behind the village and
snow mountain beyond. Reshuitang
Village is divided into Tangpi
sub-village and Cichiqu sub-village by
the N713 national highway. There are
60 households with a population of
318 in Reshuitang Village of which the
total cultivating area is 54.43 ha. (Ne
An et al, 2003).
Figure 6. Reshuitang Village
Figure 7. Different Cultivars of Highland Barley
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3. Research Methods
The Research was draw on several well-established approaches, but combine these in a
new way. These approaches include:
A. Landscape agrobiodiversity assessment (Guo et al, 1996)
B. Household agrobiodiversity assessment (HH-ABA) (Guo et al, 2000, )
C. Participatory Rural Appraisal ( PRA)
D. Ethnobotanical and anthropological methods (Pei, 1988; Ford, 1978)
Figure 8. Interview farmer in the field
Seeds and Specimen Collection in the Field
From the December of 2006 to July of 2007, we have been to Shangri-la county and
Reshuitang Village for five times to do agrobiodiversity research which were focused on
three aspects: Seeds and specimen collection; the types of agro-ecosystems (Wen, 1995)
and the biodiversity in each pattern of agro-ecosystems around the village, the
socio-economic situation and the traditional culture and experience in the village. 83 seed
samples with DNA material samples have collected and deposited at South-West Wild
Plant Germplasm Bank of China.
Literature search
In order to obtain the basic information on the topography, traffic, local indigenous culture
and natural resources of Shangri-la, a large amount of relevant literatures, such as the
chorography, flora, folk custom and the Records of Shangri-la have been searched and
consulted before we going to do field research. Reshuitang Village, a typical Tibetan
village in Xiaozhongdian township of Shangri-la has been chosen for agrobiodiversity
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research site based on the literatures and some preliminary field study.
Biodiversity Assessment in agro-ecosystems
With methods for assessing species diversity in agricultural landscapes (Guo et al., 1996;
Zarin et al., 1999) and PRA, we studied the diverse varieties of crops, the types of
agro-ecosystems around the village and the plant species in each type in the winter of
2006 and the spring and summer of 2007.
In the collective forest, an area of 20×50 m2 was set randomly as a sample to measure the
coverage of different species and another sample area of 5×5 m2 was set inside to
evaluate the abundance of species; In the sacred forest, we chose a sample area of
20×20 m2 randomly to measure the abundance, coverage and biomass of species; In the
potato field, a sample area of 4×4 m2 was set randomly to measure the coverage of
different species and two smaller sample area of 1×1 m2 was set in two opposite corners
to evaluate the abundance of species; And in the grassland, a sample area of 5×5 m2 was
set and another sample area of 1×1 m2 was constructed inside. All the plant species in the
sample area and other blooming plants outside were collected as voucher specimens.
Figure 9. Interview farmers for indigenous knowledge of highland barley
Socio-economic study
We conducted the study in late winters when all the family members were to be home to
celebrate the New Year’s coming, and the Household Agrobiodiversity Assessment
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(HH-ABA) (Guo et al, 2000) and Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) (Theis et al., 2000;
Worl Resource Institute, 1991; Long et al., 1996) were applied to the study.
Forty among 60 household were visited randomly with questionnaires including questions
about the family population, the basic information of each member, the cultivation area,
the crops planted and their output, the grassland area, the number and kinds of domestic
animals, the sell situation of food crop and domestic animals, the income of byproduct
from the forest, the nonagricultural activities and income, the money devoted to the
agriculture and daily life, the source and amount of the firewood and their own opinion on
the local development.
Moreover, the price of kinds of agricultural product was surveyed in several agricultural
trade markets in Xiaozhongdian Township and Shangri-la county seat.
Investigation of traditional Tibetan knowledge and experiences
Accompany with the socio-economic study and biodiversity study, the investigation of
traditional Tibetan knowledge and experiences including their knowledge on traditional
farming, management and related religion culture ran through all the year, and PRA,
anthropological and ethnobotanical methods (Huai et al, 1998; Ford, 1978) were applied.
Potatoes
Brassica rapa
Rape
Buckwheat
Highland Barley
Figure 10. Agrobiodiversity of Tibetan farming system
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4. Results
4.1 Cultivars and landraces of Shangri-la County
This research tried to collect and identify all the cultivars of highland barley which
cultivated in Shangri-la County. There are more than 150 cultivars of highland barley in
Yunnan Province and most of them are stored in Yunnan Academy of agricultural
Sciences and Institute of Agricultural Sciences of Diqing Prefecture. Based on our
investigation and statistic data of Agricultural Bureau of Shangri-la County, only twenty
eight cultivars have been cultivating by local people traditionally (table 1). Some of these
cultivars are bred by indigenous people and stored seed on-farm, such as Genai is
traditionally cultivated in high elevation and stored on-farm conservation for a long time.
Some of them are bred by some research institutes and recommended to local farmer,
such as Eightyday barley. The cultivars can be seasonally divided to winter cultivar and
summer cultivar and cultivated in high elevation and low elevation respectively.
4.2 Exchange Seed
Exchange seed are very popular and important for naked barley cultivation. The common
trend of exchange seed is introduced from high elevation to low elevation, mountain area
to valley area, upriver to downstream. The purpose of exchange seed is renewing the
seed and increasing ability of anti-pest. Low temperature is one of inducement for
increasing yield of highland barley. Nandang Village of Nixi Township is most important
original base of seed resource. But some farmers produce the seed by themselves. They
cultivate naked barley at high elevation for one year and use this seed to cultivate in valley
area next year.
4.3 Biodiversity in agro-ecosystems around Reshuitang Village
There are mainly four types of agro-ecosystem around the Reshuitang Village in
Shangri-la: the gardening and cropland ecosystem, the secondary collective forest
ecosystem, the primary sacred forest ecosystem and sub-alpine grassland ecosystem.
The cropland ecosystem is mainly dry land cropland system, and the cultivating manner is
crop rotation of highland barley and potato every year.
What’s more, the land area of each type of ecosystem are changing according to the
sketch maps drew by villagers in PRA, one map shows the main land use type and area
before 1952, the year of liberation, and the other presents that after the land reform in
1982. Based on the two maps, obviously the area of collective forest, gardening land and
crop land have increased, and that of the sacred forest and grassland have decreased
which are consistent with the study about the forest area in Diqing Autonomous Prefecture
(Xu et al, 2003).
4.4 The species richness in four different ecosystems
The species of main crop and species collected in the sample area of potato field are
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listed in Appendix 1 (in the end of the article). And the dominant species are belonged to
Chenopodiaceae, Ranunculaceae, Papilionaceae, Rubiaceae and Cruciferae. Besides,
there are also plants species in Polygonaceae, Solanaceae, Cyperaceae, Asteraceae and
Equisetaceae.
Table 1. Cultivars of Highland Barley Cultivated in Shangri-la County
Collection
No. Name Collection Site Altitude (m)
1 Short and white barley Reshuitang village of Xiaozhongdian town 3235
2 Black barley Jidu village of Xiaozhongdain town 3317
3 Short hair black barley Wugu village of Xiaozhongdian town 3351
4 Red barley Nandang village of Nixi township 3162
5 Black barley Nandang village of Nixi township 3166
6 Green barley Xigui village of Nixi township 2760
7 Long hair black barley Kedang village of Nixi township 2674
8 White barley Nixi old village of Nixi township 3135
9 Zhushi barley Bengding village of Nixi township 2350
10 Yellow barley Bengding village of Nixi townhip 2330
11 No hair white barley Haba village of Sanba township 2650
12 Hei Liuleng Pushang village of Geza township 3230
13 Diqing No.4 Geza village of Geza township 3150
14 Short awn black barley Jidi village of Jiantang town 3333
15 Jiu Ge Zini village of Jiantang town 3372
16 Six arrises green barley Wengshang village of Geza township 3275
17 Rong sheng Pushing village of geza township 2927
18 Ba jiao Wengshang village of Geza township 3064
19 Pa rao Wengshui village of Geza township 3024
20 Dong se Wengshui village of Geza township 3024
21 Kang qing No. 4 Shangyou village of Dongwang township 2629
22 Manna Shangyou village of Dongwang township 2645
23 Zhuzao Wuzui village of Dongwang township 2429
24 Gaoluzhujiang Wuzui village of Dongwang township 2400
25 Genai Zeyang village of Dongwang township 3420
26 Wogai Zeyang village of Dongwang township 3450
27 Eighty days white barley Xinlian village of Dongwang township 3120
28 Eighty days black barley Xinlian village of Dongwang township 3150
The list of species in collective forest is attached as Appendix 2. The dominant species in
the tree layer is Pinus densata Mast.; the dominant species in the shrub layer are Quercus
monimotricha Hand.-Mazz., Betula platyphylla Suk. and plants of Rhododendren L. and
Populus L., and there are also plants of Thamnocalamus Munro, Caragana Fabr. and
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Berberis L. in shrub layer; in ground layer, the dominant species are plants of Artemisia L. and
Carex L., and there are still plants of Parmelia Ach. and Bryophyta in ground flora.
The species collected in the sample area of sacred forest are listed in Appendix 3. The
dominant species in the tree layer is Quercus monimotricha, Pinus densata and Picea
likiangensis (Franch.) Pritz; the dominant species in the shrub layer are plants of
Rhododendren, Abelia R. Br., Berberis, Rosa L., Thamnocalamus, Crataegus L.and Rubus
L.; in ground layer, the dominant species are plants of Anaphalis DC., Carex L., and plants of
Labiatae; the interlayer plants are also abundant, such as plants of Usnea Dill. ex Adans;
and there are plants of Parmelia Ach. and Bryophyta in ground flora, and the fungi will only
appear on the ground after the rainy season in May, such as Tricholoma matsatake (S .Ito
et Imai) Sing.
In the sample area of sacred forest, there are 11 trees of Quercus monimotricha which the
diameter at breast height of is more than 1 meter, 5 from 90cm to 100cm, 9 from 70cm to
90cm, and 11 from 50cm to 70 cm; whereas in collective forest, the plants of Quercus
monimotricha are shrubs, and there are much less species in a larger sample area of
20×50 m2 than that in a smaller sample area of 20×20 m2 in sacred forest.
The plant species in grassland are listed in Appendix 4, and the Stellera chamaejasme L.
which is a sign of degrading in grassland appears due to over grazing (Ma et al., 1999;
Song et al., 2000; Wu et al., 2006).
4.5 The diverse varieties of crops
The major crop plants (Table 2.) in Reshuitang Village now are highland barley (Hordeum
vulgare L. var. nudum Spenn.) , potato (Solanum tuberosum L.), turnip (Brassica rapa L.),
oat (Avena sativa L.)、wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and buchwheat (Fagopyrum Mill.), and
the economic plant is rape plant (Brassica napus L.).
Table 2. Crops planted in Reshuitang Village
Crops
highland
barley buckwheat
oat
turnip
potato
rape
Tibetan
name nai xiao wo ye gü yong ma \ yong
gü
Highland barley is the staple food crop of the local people living in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau,
so is in Shangri-la. It is believed that there is rich nutrition and high energy in highland
barley. The content of protein occupies about 15%. The wine brewed from highland barley
is the favorite drink of Tibetan. Its pliable straw is good fodder for animals such as yaks,
cattle, and sheep.
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Previous surveys showed that the morphological diversity of highland barley was also
very rich in Shangri-la. For example, there are different landraces with long awn, short
awn, falcate awn and non-awn types in terms of the variability of glume awn (personal
communication). And there were used to be four highland barley varieties in Reshuitang
Village as follows (Table 3), some of them are not being planted anymore because of bad
taste or low yield.
Table 3. Highland barley varieties in Rehuitang Village
Tibetan name nai na nai gü ma na (1253) ma gü
Shape of
caryopsis long and thin
long and thin
short and stout
short and stout
Color of kernels almost black
almost white with
two black ends almost black with
two white ends greyish white
Number of
caryopsis in a
rachilla
12~16
12~16
12~16
12~16
Spike attitude bent bent erect erect
Height of an
individual plant about 1.2m
about 1.2m
1.0~1.1m
1.0~1.1m
Length and
color of awn 12cm, white
long, purple-red
10cm, greyish
white short, white
Lodging
resistance bad
bad
good
good
Yield
the second
highest (1500
kilogram per
hectare)
the second
highest (1500
kilogram per
hectare)
the first highest,
(2250 kilogram
per hectare)
the first
highest, (2250
kilogram per
hectare)
Being planted or
not now and
why
Yes, because of
its good taste.
No, because of
bad taste, little
lodging resistance
and low yield
No, because of
its bad tastes.
Yes, because
of its high yield
and lodging
resistance.
Potato was introduced into Shangri-la in 1950s and soon became one of the Tibetan
people’s favorite foods. Villagers in Reshuitang have totally planted 6 varieties since then
(Table 4.).
Among the 6 varieties, Zhongdian Hongyan variety which is the most popular variety in
Reshuitang Village was selected and breeded by nstitute of Agricultural Science in Diqing
Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Yunan, and then was further improved by the institute
of Bio-technology, Academy of Agricultural Sciences of Yunnan. It has many good
qualities which make it have wide adaptability and steady and high yield (Yang et al.,
2001). Hezuo-88 was newly introduced in 2006 from Lijiang County in Yunnan, and it will
16

be spread planting if it works well.
And there are two varieties in turnip which they used as livestock fodders (early ripe sweet
turnip and late ripe Tibetan turnip), two types of rape plants (early ripe and later ripe), only
one kind of oat and one kind of buckwheat [F
．
tataricum (L.) Gaertn. ] in the village.
Table 4. Potato varieties and its information
Variety name Characteristics Yield Rank Origin place Being planted or
not now and why
Bai Yang Yu white color in
both skin and
flesh
the lowest Yi community in
Yunnan province No, for its low yield
and little demand
in market.
A Ba yellow skin,
white flesh the first
highest A Ba in Sichuan
province No, for its bad
taste, perishable
quality and little
demand in market.
Zhongdian
Hongyan red eyes in skin,
white flesh the third
highest Institute of
Agricultural
Science in Diqing
Tibetan
Autonomous
Prefecture of
Yunan
Yes, for its good
taste, being not
easy to decay,
having good
market and
relative high yield.
Hezuo-88 purple-red skin,
yellow flesh the second
highest Lijiang county of
Yunnan Yes, for its good
taste, being not
easy to decay,
having good
market and
relative high yield.
Rou Se Yang
Yu pink skin,
incarnadine
circles in flesh
the fourth
highest Institute of
Agricultural
Science in Diqing
Tibetan
Autonomous
Prefecture of
Yunan
Few, for little
demand in market
and low yield.
Tai An Yang
Yu red skin and
white flesh the fourth
highest Tai An town in
Lijiang county of
Yunnan
No, for little
demand in market
and low yield.
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4.6 Socio-Economic Study result (the arrangement of Socio-economic study
tables)
The result of the socio-economic study of 40 families was processed and made into a
pie-graph (below) to show the source of incomes in Tibetan families in Reshuitang Village.
Incomes of Tibetan families in Reshuitang village of
Shangri-la
Stockbreeding ,
40.61
Nonagricultural
work , 42.69
Forest
byproduct, 1.88
Crop
cultivation ,
14.85
Figure 11. Income Analysis of Reshuitang Village
As the pie-graph exhibits, the incomes from stockbreeding and cultivation is totally 55.46
％, which counts for the remain importance of agriculture and stockbreeding; the income
from nonagricultural work, such as commercial transportation, has taken up 42.69％ of
the whole, which indicates its increasing significance in Tibetan families and the big
changes in the traditional way of life of Tibetans in Reshuitang Village to some degree.
Moreover, other information have been obtained through the socio-economic investigation:
92.68％ of the villagers are using an average amount of 1.87 kg of pesticide and
herbicide recently whereas few decades of years ago, no pesticide and herbicide were
used; the rice and wheat are entering into their lives which at the same time are relatively
lowering the status of highland barley as food; and 92.10% of families in Reshuitang
Village have a TV set; the average amount of consumed wood for firewood and building
house per family per year is 17.2 ton which means 1032 ton of wood are needed for the
whole 60 families in Reshuitang Village, and only 4.8％ of the families partially buy wood
from the market, other families get all the wood from the collected forest.
4.7 The traditional management experiences and related religion culture
The Tibetan people both in Shangri-la county and research site Reshuitang Village have
characteristic managing experiences on crops, grassland and forest which are considered
as the traditional and typical way in alpine areas.
One of the unique characteristics of management is the natural mixture used as manure
by Tibetan villagers. They pick the leaves of pine (Pinus densata and Picea likiangensis)
18

on the ground, cut the branch and leaves of oak (Quercus monimotricha) in the collective
forest and bring them home, chop them into pieces and mix them with moist farmyard
dung. After five months’ fermentation, the mixture will be spread in the field as fertilizers
before seedtime. The mixture which comes from the nature and then back to nature
reflects one aspect of the harmonious relationship of Tibetan people and the nature. And
animals and simple tools are still used in farming, such as yak, dzho and plough for
furrowing, reaphook for harvesting, and wooden framework for drying the highland barleys
and turnips. Simple and traditional techniques, such as the rotation planting of highland
barley and turnip which are helpful in retaining the nutrition in the earth, are good for both
crops and environment.
What’s more, stockbreeding in alpine meadow is another feature. There are three kinds of
grassland for stockbreeding around Reshuitang Village: rangeland beside the crop field
(the kind of grassland in which we set a sample area), grassland between the crop field
and alpine rangeland. The animal could be herded on the first kind of grassland all the
year round, and the second type is used to foster grasses which could be eaten by
livestock in winter. And when the weather becomes hot, the yak, dzho, scalper and sheep
will be droved to the alpine meadows where the weather will be cooler and the grass is
more abundant in summer.
It’s well known that all Tibetan people believe in a Tibetan Buddhism, and their serious
protecting attitude to the sacred mountains is somehow related to religion. It was said that
the mountains that had been visited by accomplished monks in the ancient time are
sacred mountains and that no life beings in the mountains including the plants, birds and
animals are not to be hurt, or the gods in the mountain will be angered and bring disasters
to the people, and people will only be blessed if protect the mountains and life beings in
the mountain well (Zou et al., 2005). The faith of sacred mountains which are also existed
in Reshuitang Village has played an important role in protecting the diversity of species
and their growth in sacred forest, though some slight degree of logging and plant
collecting in the foot of the mountains happens.
The villagers will pray to nature gods whenever they are going to do some important
farming activities, and when they pray, the highland barley is a necessity that sacrificed to
the deity to wish a good harvest of crops next year.
19

5. Discussions and Recommendations
5.1 Why highland barley cultivation continuing?
More and more high economic value crops have been introduced in to Tibetan area
recently. But highland barley is still the main crop of Tibetan people. The reasons could be
explained as following by local people. Firstly, the favorite food of Tibetan is still barley
even rice is easily available in market because of its high energy and protein. Secondly,
barley and straw are very important feeds for yak and other livestock in the winter
because fewer and fewer grass can be harvested from degraded grassland. Thirdly,
barley is the best material for making Tibetan favorite wine.
5.2 The four agro-ecosystems
From the result demonstrated above, it could be inferred that the nutrition of earth in crop
fields is relatively good because of the existence of weeds of Papilionaceae, which are
nitrogen fixation plants species, and we ascribe it to the traditional rotation planting.
The diversity of plants in sacred forest is richer than that in collective forest according to
the number and life form of species colleted in two sample areas. There are two factors in
it. One is the religion faith in sacred mountains which maintain the biodiversity; the other is
over logging of wood and over collecting of plant materials, such as oaks to be used in
making traditional fertilizers, which accelerated the degrading of the collective forest. The
collective forest is already in a state of secondary succession, the increasing demand
makes the forest worse, and when the colleted forest can not afford that high demand,
Tibetan people in Reshuitang Village will have to face a dilemma: change their traditional
way of building house and obtaining fire or start logging in the sacred forest?
Besides, the appearance of Stellera chamaejasme which is considered as the poisonous
weed in alpine meadows indicates the deteriorating of grassland in Reshuitang Village.
The increasing population in recent years has resulted in the need of increasing product
from stockbreeding and cultivation which lead to the over grazing in rangelands. The three
kinds of grassland has eased the problem of over-grazing to some degree, but the keep
increasing number of livestock will sooner or later exert great negative impact on the
grassland, and the poisonous weeds will appear not only in the rangeland beside the crop
field but also the alpine meadow.
5.3 The traditional varieties
The population growth has also caused the selecting of high yielding and good taste crop
varieties and discarding of other traditional varieties.
Though there are only few local varieties in crops in Reshuitang Village, it is those few
local varieties in each village constitutes the genetic diversity in crops in Shangri-la. These
abundant varieties with morphological diversity are the result of an interaction between
20

the genetic make-up of barley and not just ecological, but also human factor (Kebebew,
2001). These varieties which are formed based on long-term selection and cultivation of
some species by local people have greatly enriched the genetic diversity of natural
species (Long, 2000). The discarding of local varieties is a great loss of precious genetic
diversity among crops, thus conservation of diversel traditional varieties are urgent needs.
5.4 Traditional ways of management and culture
The traditional managing knowledge of using fertilizing mixture from natural stuff is
originally a good method both to crops and environment, but as the plants in collective
forest grow less and worse, it will also a problem of from where to get an large amount of
the leaves of pine and the branch and leaves of oak to make such mixture.
5.5 Socio-economic study result
Moreover, the pie-graph made by the result of socio-economic study suggests the
changes in the traditional way of life of Tibetans in Reshuitang Village for the larger
proportion of nonagricultural income to some degree. And the using of pesticide and
herbicide, the change of diet structure because of the introducing of rice and wheat, the
spreading of Han people’s culture through TV sets demonstrated by socio-economic study
produces the same conclusion: Tibetan people’s way of life are changing.
The changing of livelihood way has influenced the agricultural biodiversity in many
aspects and the changed agrobiodiversity has influenced the livelihood in turn. Some
traditional management methods and practices which had harmonious relationship with
the ecosystem, the biodiversity and the environment before now seems not right anymore,
and the unsuitability will further make people thinking about changing their way of life.
There is an intangible connect between local livelihood, traditional management and
religion culture and the agricultural biodiversity, they exert direct or indirect influences on
each other.
5.6 Recommendations
Utilizing and conserving biodiversity and traditional culture and managing practices to
improve environmental quality and sustain the agricultural development are the aim of
agricultural biodiversity. Effective measures are imperative to be taken on conserving the
agrobiodiversity and at the same time promoting the local sustainable development. And
based upon suggestions put forward by relevant studies (Wen, 1993; Miller et al., 1995;
Chen et al., 1995) and the situations in Reshuitang village, some advices are raised.
First, preserve traditional culture to rely on its cultural services for its potential for solving
agricultural problems, now and in the future (DIVERSITAS, 2005). Despite of the changes
of Tibetan people’s way of life, the traditional Tibetan culture and practices is still playing
the important role there, in particular, in natural resource management and farming
systems.
21

Second, conserve local crop varieties by in situ (including maintenance of native species
and varieties in traditional agroecosystems and relevant environment education) and ex
situ (including establishment of living collections and germplasm banks) measures (Long
et al., 2003).
Third, control the pest in an integrating way, and more effort should be paid to develop
better pesticide that has high effects on preventing and curing diseases an at the same
time does no harm to human and environment.
Fourth, start the protecting project of natural forest, and strictly follow the ban enact in
1999 on logging and related activities in specific areas (Zhao et al., 2001), and call for
government and people to plant local species of trees in the collective forest.
Fifth, make use of the grassland advisably by drawing a relevant law of forbidding over
grazing; suggestions of expert on grassland recovery and management should be taken
to improve the quality of the soil and the capacity of producing grasses on grassland.
Sixth, educate the public, especially local villager about the importance of bio-resources
and environment to improve people’s consciousness of protecting.
6. Conclusions
Highland Barley is very important crop germplasm in high elevation agricultural systems.
Rich genetic diversity of highland barley supplies a lot of opportunities for sustainable
utilization of indigenous knowledge for agricultural development.
Study of agrobiodiversity in Shangri-la and Reshuitang Village reflects the losing trend of
agrobiodiversity in no further future by comparing the biodiversity in sacred forest
ecosystems with traditional culture and management to the collective forest system
without, by illustrating the loss of the number of varieties of crops and by showing the
negative impact of the change of Tibetan people’s livelihood on agrobiodiversity.
And the main factors that influence agrobiodiversity are of social, economic and cultural
reasons. Tibetan people’s way of life, the traditional culture and method and
agrobiodiversity are closely related to and exert impact on each other.
Therefore, to make effort to actualize the multiple functions of agrobiodiversity (Pimbert,
1999), in particular, the function of its to rural development, six point of suggestions of
measures are raised to provide a reference to local policy-makers.
22

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Appendix 1. The specimens collected in gardening and crop land
Collecting
Number ScientificName
Tibetan
Name
24

1138 Ribes alpestre Wall. ex Decne. ci yang
1194 Lancea tibetica Hook.f. & Thomson pa na mu
1196 Lancea tibetica Hook.f. & Thomson pa na mu
1197 Equisetum arvense L. che shu mu
1198 Stellaria media Sibth. ge mie jie
shi
1199 Galium trifidum L. qiong jie
1201 Stachys sieboldii Miq. gong a mu
1202 Scutellaria amoena Wright lie bu mu
1253
1254
1255 Phlomis atropurpurea Dunn
1256
1269
1270
1271
1272
1273
1274 guo dui mie
diu
1275 pa na mu
1276 Spiranthes sinensis (Pers.) Ames
1277
1278 ye hong mu
1279 Pedicularis densispica Franch. ex Maxim. a ra bu ra
1280 Pedicularis siphonantha var.delavayi Tsoong a ra bu ra
1281 a zha ni ke
1282 Nepeta laevigata (D. Don) Hand.-Mazz. lie bu mu
1283 Clinopodium megalanthum (Diels) C.Y.Wu & Hsuan ex
H.W.Li
1284 Prunella vulgaris Greene
1285 seng lu mu
1300 dua
1339 ge mu ge
shi
1340
1341 hie ye mu
1342 ge yu de de
1343 giao bu e xi
1344 xiang chen
mu
1345 you guo
1387 qiang
1388 ya huo mu
25

1389 Carum carvi L. ge nü mu
1390 Elsholtzia eriostachya Hook.f. & Thomson ex Hook.f. lia bu mu
1391 dong la jiu
1392 yong zhu
mu
1393 a ne e rong
1394 qia la
1395
1396 Origanum vulgare L. ang zhi
1397
1398 Epipactis helleborine (L.) Crantz lia bu mu
Appendix 2. The specimens collected in collective forest
Collecting Number ScientificName Tibetan Name
1119 Lysimachia pumila Franch.
1120 Rhododendron hippophaeoides Balf.f & W. W. Sm.
1121 Rhododendron racemosum Franch.
1122 Rhododendron yunnanenseFranch.
1123 Rhododendron racemosum Franch.
1124 Piptanthus concolor Harrow ex Craib ce jia shen
1125 Daphne aurantiaca Diels
1126 Betula platyphylla Sukaczev
1127 Picea likiangensis (Franch.) E.Pritz.
1128 Piptanthus tomentosus Franch.
1129 Berberis pruinosa Franch.
1130 Berberis crassilimba C.Y.Wu ex S.Y.Bao
1131 Iris kemaonensis D. Don bie bi
1151 Berberis wilsonae Hemsl. ci mo mo
1181 Plantago depressa Willd. ge jia mu
1200 Dipsacus lijiangensis T. M. Ai et H. B. Chen dong a ji
1221 Allium sikkimense Baker gu wa
1222 Polygonatum prattii Baker
1228 Berberis dictyophylla Franch.
1230 Berberis pruinosa Franch. ne se ci yang
1258
26

1259
1444 lang chu
1445 zha xia le
1447 mu tong bu li
1448 lu du shen
1449
1450 ze dan guo
1451 la wang
1452 zha ci yang
1453 ci jia
1454
1455 ding li mie diu
1456 zha ge shen
1457 ge mu ge shi
1458
1459
1460 zhong an mu
1461 shuo shu
1462 zhang an mu
1463 yong zhu mu
1464 kan na
1465
1466
1467 kan ge
1468
1469 de zi
1470 de zi
1471 de zi
1472 dong mu mu
1473 chen ge mu
1474 sen lu mu
1475 sen lu mu
1476 qiang ne mu
1477 da ge mu
1478
1479 ge da qing
1480 ge da qing
1481
1482 nan zhong
1483
1484 Panax japonicus C. A. Meyer zhang an
27

Appendix 3. The specimens collected in sacred forest
Collecting
Number ScientificName Tibetan Name
1132 Xylanche himalaica Beck
1133 Sorbus rufopilosa C.K.Schneid.
1134 Rodgersia pinnata Franch.
1135 Petasites tricholobus Franch.
1136 Salvia roborowskii Maxim. yang lv man
1137 Lonicera webbiana Wall.
1140 Rhododendron rubiginosum Franch.
1141 Rhododendron decorum Franch. dang ren
1142 Daphne retusa Hemsl.
1356
1357
1358
1359
1360
1361 Satyrium yunnanense Rolfe
1362
1363
1364 Pedicularis rex C.B.Clarke ex Maxim. gu gu cha
tang
1365 Bupleurum commelynoideum var. flaviflorum Shan &
Y.Li
28

1366 gui xu
1367 yan se mu
1368 xiang bu zha
1369 zhang ha mie
diu
1370 Crypsinus crenato-pinnatus (Clarke) Copel. hu la
1371 zhang re mie
diu
1372 ze lian wo lie
1373
1374/1255 Phlomis melanantha Diels
1375 Heracleum rapula Franch. zhang an mu
1376 pu shen
1377 ci jia
1378 zhua
1379 mu lu xu
1380 bong qiang
1381
1382
1383
1384
1385 Triosteum himalayanum Wall. xia lu ni/xia lu
nü
1386 Salvia subpalmatinervis Stibal yong zhu mu
1399 Epipactis helleborine (L.) Crantz
1400
1401 Cypripedium flavum P.F.Hunt & Summerh. niong gen mie
diu
1402
1403
1404 Orchis taiwanensis Fukuy.
1405 Cypripedium guttatum Sw.
1406
1407
1408
1409
1410 Pimpinella candolleana Wight & Arn.
1411 Scutellaria amoena Wright
1412 dua di du
1413
1414 che jia shen
1415
1416 hia
1417 ge da qing
29

1418
1419
1420
1421 rang sen
1422
1423 na gu
1424
1425
1426
1427 zha gu shen
1428 lu du shen
1429 dong dao
1430 re hen ge hen
1431 Pternopetalum delavayi (Franch.) Hand.-Mazz.
1432 tie gu mie diu
1433 ca xi mu
1434 wu wu
1435
1436
1437 Ajuga forrestii Diels
1438 Pedicularis dunniana Bonati
1439 mu tong bu li
1440 Morina nepalensis D.Don xu jiao
1441
1442 shen ta xu
1443 lang mu lang
go
1446 Viburnum kansuense Batalin. niang xu
30

Appendix 4. The specimens collected in grassland
Collecting
Number ScientificName
Tibetan
Name
1301
1302 seng lu mu
1303 Ajuga lupulina var. major Diels
1304
1305
1306 che zhua mu
1307 Selinum cryptotaenium H. Boissieu dong xi mu
1308 hua hua
1309 Torilis japonica DC.
1310
1311
1312 zhua chu
1313 lai rua mu
1314
1315
1316 hie ge wo lu
1317
1318 huo lü
1319
1320 du mu mu
1321 qiong ne mu
31

1322 huo lü
1323
1324 cheng ge mu
1325
1326
1327
1328
1329
1330
1331 nü
1332 e lang ba
1333
1334 Pedicularis densispica Franch. ex Maxim. a ra bu ra
1335 Salvia flava Forrest ex Diels yong zhu mu
1336 Rabdosia irrorata var. crenata C.Y.Wu
1337
1338 Scutellaria amoena Wright
1346 Ligularia melanocephala (Franch.) Hand.-Mazz.
1347 de si mu
1348
1349 Cardamine gracilis ( O.E.Schulz ) T.Y.Cheo & R.C.Fang
1350 seng lu mu
1351
1352 che zhua mu
1353
1354
1355
1143 Gentiana chungtienensis C.Marquand a lv wa lium
1144 Corallodiscus grandis (Craib) B.L.Burtt xia xio mu
1145 Iris ruthenica var. nana Maxim. bie bi
1146 Salix variegata Franch. lang wan
1147 Thalictrum finetii B.Boivin xie ru de ci
1148 Anisodus acutangulus var. breviflorus C.Y.Wu & C.Chen duo kong
1149 Cotoneaster microphyllus Wall. xiang bu zha
1150 Anemone rivularis Buch.-Ham. ex DC. ze dan guo
1152 Populus cathayana Rehder
1153 Salvia digitaloides Diels yang lv ma
1154 Pyrus pashia Buch.-Ham. ex D.Don
1155 Centella asiatica Urban dang ba
1156 ?
1157 Hypecoum leptocarpum Hook.f. & Thomson
1158 Erigeron breviscapus (Vaniot) Hand.-Mazz. zang ha mie
du
1159 Anaphalis xylorhiza Sch.Bip. ex Hook.f.
32

1160 Ligusticum capillaceum H.Wolff jio ni mu
1161
Anemone obtusiloba ssp. Ovalifolia var. truncate
(H. F. Comber) W. T. Wang.
1162 Gentiana tibetica King ex Hook.f.
1163 Taraxacum forrestii Soest wang bu mu
1164 Gentiana aristata Maxim. a lv wa lium
1165 Lysimachia pumila Franch.
1166 Veronica biloba L. gie xie
1167 Polygonum sibiricum L.f. jiong bo e lie
1168 Polygonum paleaceum Wall. a lie
1169 Elsholtzia ciliata (Thunb. ex Murray) Hyl. xue ru san
wa
1170 Plantago asiatica L. ge jia mu
1171 Ligularia sp.
1175 Potentilla anserina L.
1176 Potentilla saundersiana Royle
1177 Ranunculus tanguticus (Finet & Gagnep.) K.S.Hao
1178 Artemisia tangutica Pamp. kerg ra
1179 Taraxacum eriopodum DC. cha re mu
1180 Taraxacum mongolicum Hand.-Mazz. & Dahlst. wang bu mu
1182 Ligusticum sikiangense Hiroe.
1183 Potentilla anserina L.
1184 Potentilla saundersiana Royle
1185 Anemone demissa var. major W. T. Wang
1186 Cyperus sp.
1187 Gnaphalium affine D. Don.
1188 Trollius farreri Stapf
1189 Anemone demissa ssp. villosissima ( Brühl ) R.P.Chaudhary
1190 Ranunculus nephelogenes Edgew.
1191 Ranunculus trigonus Hand.-Mazz.
1192 Fragaria moupinensis Gardot ce ge mu
1193 Caltha palustris var. umbrosa Diels
1195 Carex sp. pa zua mu
1250 a bong ke lve
1251 Pedicularis rhinanthoides ssp. tibetica (Bonati) PC Tsoong
1252 Pedicularis longiflora var. tubiformis Tsoong
1257
1260 Pedicularis oxycarpa Franch. ex Maxim.
1261
1262
1263
1264
1265
1266
33

1267
1268
1287 Batrachium bungei (Steud.) L.Liu
1288 ne gi mie diu
1289 na di mu
1290 Hippuris vulgaris L.
1291 Blyxa sp.
1292 Potamogeton tepperi A.Bennett
1293
1294
1295
1296
1297 xie xiu mu
1298 qiong jie
1299 huo lü
34