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Ethnobotany of cañihua (Chenopodium pallidicaule), rustic seed crop of the Altiplano

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Summary

Cañihua, Chenopodium pallidicaule, is a weedy plant cultivated by Indian fanners on the Altiplano of Peru and Bolivia. Because cañihua is resistent to low temperatures, drought, salty soil, disease, and pests, it has achieved importance in the agricultural system, but only because it prospers where other crops are often marginal food producers. Its dual usage of seed and ash, high protein content, and function as an insurance crop explain its persistence, but its future role in Altiplano agriculture may depend on its genetic improvement.

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Literature Cited

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This study was aided by a grant from the Institutional Grant Funds of the University of Vermont. Submitted for publication April 1, 1969.

Cañihua is the classical Quechua form and most common spelling for the name of this plant, but it has also been variously written as cañigua, cañahua, cañiwa, kañiwa, etc.

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Gade, D.W. Ethnobotany of cañihua (Chenopodium pallidicaule), rustic seed crop of the Altiplano. Econ Bot 24, 55–61 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02860637

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