Quinoa in Bolivia: an ancestral crop changed to a cash crop with ``organic fair-trade{''} labeling

Abstract

This paper presents a review of the litterature on the physiology anddiversity of quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.). Since about 15 years,this Andean crop experiences a great commercial success in the organicand fair-trade food networks. Selected and cultivated for thousands ofyears in the Andean highlands, quinoa shows a remarkable tolerance toenvironmental stresses, particularly to drought and cold. The presentknowledges on quinoa physiology, though fragmentary, show a high coldresistance of the plants, and the capacity to recover highphotosynthetic activity after drought. Under field conditions, thegenetic diversity in local landraces and the crop practices alsocontribute notably to the adaptation of quinoa to climatic hazards.