ABSTRACT
The Andean region is considered one of the most important centers of crop origin and diversity in the world (Vavilov 1950, 1987, 1995). Many of the important food crops grown recently worldwide (e.g., potato) were domesticated in this region (Veilleux and De Jong 2007). At the time of the Spanish conquest, the Incas cultivated almost as many species of plants as the farmers of all of Asia and Europe. Andean Indians domesticated as many as 70 crop species (Popenoe et al. 1989). Longlasting human selection of different plant species in various agroecological conditions has led to very broad intra-and interspeci’c diversity, microclimatic adaptability, and utilization of landraces.
