INDIGENOUS DIVERSITY OF CASSAVA - GENERATION, MAINTENANCE, USE AND LOSS AMONG THE AMUESHA, PERUVIAN UPPER AMAZON

For cassava (Manihot esculenta Euphorbiaceae), results from field coll ection, semistructured interviews, phenetic and cluster analyses, and Global Information Systems (GIS) indicate that cassava phenotypes vary with elevation and topography, but less with soils or pests and disea ses. Amuesha women with a sense of tradition maintain many cassava var ieties along with associated myths, songs, names and indigenous produc tion. The shaman plays a key role in breeding new and maintaining trad itional cassava germplasm, while the rest of the tribe nurtures cassav a germplasm dynamics through collecting, trading, stealing, maintainin g favored cassava varieties, and purging the less desirable. The futur e of cassava diversity is of concern to some Amuesha as production and market interests surmount more traditional attention to variety.