Environment and Agroecosystems in Bolivia

The environment and the agroecosystem within a region are important factors when it comes to crop production. Certain crops have the ability to flourish in specific environments where other crops would not be able to survive. In the following post, the environment and agroecosystem of Bolivia will be identified and Quinoas specific requirements regarding rainfall and fertility will be discussed.

In Bolivia the weather greatly differs depending on the altitude and topography of the region, however most of the country is situated at high elevation where the temperature varies from humid during the day to freezing temperatures during the night. In the region of southern Altiplano where most of the Quinoa is grown you find one of the harshest environments in Bolivia. There the climate is cold and dry and is one of the desertification hotspots in Bolivia. (drynet, 2015 )However besides all these harsh conditions, the Quinoa plant has the advantage to adapt to high climate risk regions because the plant tolerates water with some salt as well as frost and drought. (Margaret Smith, n.d )

In general the climate in Bolivia is tropical with a great deal of rainfall even in the driest month. The average temperate is 18,8 degrees with an average yearly rainfall of 3343 mm.  The greatest amount of precipitation is taking place with an average amount of 428 mm in October. (data, n.d )Depending on the agro- ecological zone and the genotype to which the Quinoa plant belongs to, the participation requirements vary from 250 mm (areas of salt deposits) to 1500 mm in the inner Andean valley. Quinoa only requires little amounts of water and 300 mm of rainfall is enough to keep the plant healthy. (GIZ, n.d ) Even though Quinoa has the advantage of a strong resistance to periods of drought, sufficient humidity is requires at the beginning of the cultivation. Regarding the temperature where quinoa can be exposed to, it can be seen that the plant can tolerate minus 5 degrees in the branching period, however this also depends on the ecotype and the duration of this temperatures. (FAO, n.d )

The overall rain fall pattern at the higher altitude in the Andean region is making agriculture difficult and vulnerable to hail and frost, drought and floods. Also climate change is having an effect on quinoa production as it is predicted that in future there will be longer dry seasons and more frequent storm events. Direct observations taken by farmers also implied that rain reception will be delayed and will cause a serious disruption of the traditional farming precipitation system.

Traditionally Quinoa farmers only use rain water to supply their plants with water. Irrigation is therefore not a very well- known technique but might be greatly needed to have access to water during critical times. (Cardenas, n.d )This will have a significant effect for small holder farmers of Quinoa who typically cultivate simply under rain fed conditions which also means that they have to deal with low yields in extremely dry years. However due to the limited water resources in the region, a full irrigation system does not seem to solve this problem. Therefore it would be recommend to make use of defict irrigation systems which applies water to the plant below full crop- water requirements. (S. Geerts, 2009)

But not only insufficient irrigation system is affecting the overall yield of Quinoa, other environmental factors have a large impact on the overall productivity of Quinoa farmers in Bolivia as well. First of all large deforestation is taking place of the native shrub thola to clear space for quinoa fields. Soil erosion has been speed up by the reduction of natural windbreaks, which are very important to shield crops. Now we know however, that reforestation of this shrub would be beneficial to protect plants from winds. The environmental impacts are associated with the increase in commercial quinoa production which leads to soil degradation and a disequilibrium between crop and animals production. There is reduced access to animal manure, a destruction of vegetative cover, resulting in soil erosion and an increase in agricultural pests. Besides that the increased use of tractors has degraded soil fertility. All of these aspects make clear that there is a urgent need towards the reintroduction of traditional methods of cultivation which is more focused on environmental integrity and health of agricultural land rather than intense cultivation. (bolivia, n.d )The Intense cultivation of Quinoa also implies the cultivation in Monocultures, which is a system with a single crop gown in the field during the growing season. There is an immense concern regarding these monocultures in Bolivia, as it is leading to an overall unsustainable production. (Susanne Frijs Pedersen, n.d )

Traditionally quinoa has partly been grown in polycultures, which means two or more crops are grown together at the same time on the same piece of land. In this case Quinoa has been grown with corn, bean or potato crops, which has the advantage that the plants have a greater tolerance to stress and make better use of environmental resources. The replacement of cultural practices by monocultures and crop intensification however is leading to desertification, a decline in soil fertility and a loss of natural vegetation. (Murphy, n.d )

Figure 1: Monoculture cultivation of Quinoa in Bolivia 

All these environmental issues associated with Quinoa Production are making me come to the conclusion that the commercial quinoa production does not operate in a sustainable way and there is a need towards more sustainable production systems. First of all it is important to bring back aspect of cultural cultivation practices such as Polycropping which benefits the soil but also the farmer as he will be able to sell other products besides quinoa. The preservation of land and good soil management is crucial to make efficient use of the land and at the same time pay attention to the environment. In order to reduce co2 and promote carbon sequestration it would be recommend to follow principles of climate smart agriculture which is focused on increasing productivity, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the enhancement of achieving national food security. Recommend approaches that promote carbon sequestration in Quinoa farming are conservation tillage, green manure, additional manure and compost and tree planting.  

References 

bolivia, Q. p. (n.d ). Analysis: environmental . Date accessed:  December 2016 from https://sites.google.com/a/cornell.edu/quinoa-production-in-bolivia/analysis/environmental

Cardenas, D. M. (n.d ). Bolivia- Bolivian Highlands (Altiplano) . Date accessed: December 2016 from Case study: Bolivian Highlands : http://www.unesco.org/science/doc/mab/Bolivia.pdf

data, C. (n.d ). Climate: Bolivia . Date accessed: December 2016 von https://en.climate-data.org/location/443817/

drynet. (15. October 2015 ). Native Windbreaks in the Bolivian Altiplano Control of desertification caused by Quinoa . Date accessed: December 2016 from drynet : http://dry-net.org/initiatives/native-windbreaks-in-the-bolivian-altiplano-control-of-desertification-caused-by-quinoa/

FAO. (n.d ). Quinoa (Chenopodium quince) . Date accessed: December 2016 from FAO : http://www.fao.org/docrep/t0646e/t0646e0f.htm

GIZ. (n.d ). Quinoa from the andes to the world . Date accessed: December 2016 from Giz: https://www.giz.de/expertise/downloads/Quinoa_A4_E-Online-Version.pdf

Margaret Smith. (n.d ). Quinoa . Date accessed: December 2016 from Ag Mrc Agricultural marketing resource center : http://www.agmrc.org/commodities-products/grains-oilseeds/quinoa/

Murphy, K. (n.d ). Quinoa: Improvement and Sustainable Production. Date accessed:December 2016 from Wiley Blackwell : https://books.google.nl/books?id=VLEOCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA79&lpg=PA79&dq=is+quinoa+in+bolivia+grown+in+monocultures+or+polycultures&source=bl&ots=YS7Wj72O2H&sig=UeMdfzm-cLVjvaar19tCI8G-1jg&hl=de&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjx3qa3sL_RAhXJ6xoKHUN-DRYQ6AEIITAB#v=onepage&q=is%2

S. Geerts, D. R. (28. Juny 2009). Modeling the potential for closing quinoa yield gaps under varying water. Date accessed: December 2016 from Agricultural Water Management : file:///C:/Users/Leonie/Downloads/quinoa%20in%20the%20altiplano.pdf

Susanne Frijs Pedersen, B. N. (n.d ). Introduction to the Quinoa Dilemma . Date accessed: December 2016 from http://orgprints.org/29589/1/Introduction%20to%20the%20quinoa%20dilemma-quinoapanel.pdf