ABSTRACT
Each local variety develops specific characteristics through interactions between farmers, with their own traditional knowledge, culinary and spiritual traditions, and the environment in which it grows. Local varieties can only be maintained if they are managed and cultivated by farmers year after year. Farmers may share and exchange the seed of those varieties with others who will then cultivate it in other places, leading to the adaptation of the varieties to other production environments and management practices. Local varieties are often used as a basis for traditional regional dishes, and as such they are part of the local culture. To promote the maintenance of local varieties it is essential to attach economic value to the products derived from them (Demeulenaere, 2008).
