Recognizing, promoting and applying ancestral knowledge, connecting knowledge holders with scientists and innovators, was the main agenda and the reason why a group of delegates from APEC economies, invited by Concytec, arrived in Cusco. There, they observed first-hand the work of researchers in maintaining biodiversity, especially agrobiodiversity, through traditional practices.
Concytec prepared a busy agenda for representatives of the economies of China, Chinese Taipei, the United States, Canada, Malaysia and South Korea, which began on Thursday, August 22, with delegates participating in a payment ceremony for the land. Sacsayhuaman. The agenda continued at the National University of San Antonio Abad in Cusco, where delegates were able to learn, for example, about the cultivation of food and medicinal mushrooms, the work of conserving the genetic material of Andean roots and tuberous plants in the community of Kayra. , San Jerónimo , the use of tarwi and the obtaining of oils from Andean cereals.
On Friday 23, the delegates visited the archaeological center of Tipón, an Inca citadel and enclosure dedicated to the cult of water, where terraces, platforms, stone and adobe rooms and water pipes have been built that testify to the Inca water technology that It aims to save this resource as much as possible.
They also arrived at the Potato Park, managed by the peasant communities of Chahuaytire, Paru Paru, Pampallacta and Amaru, in the district of Pisac (Cusco), recognized for their dedication to the conservation of biological and cultural diversity. There, they were able to observe seed production and storage strategies, teaching-learning processes among farmers, the administration of knowledge and information on seed conservation, community entrepreneurship and stories of ancestral knowledge related to the diversity of native potatoes and wild species.
The president of Concytec, Sixto Sánchez, stressed that with these activities in the imperial city, the institution seeks to strengthen capacities to increase access to and use of traditional knowledge, with emphasis on biodiversity (including agrobiodiversity) in the ecosystem of science, technology and innovation (SCI).
He also stressed the need for these technologies to be not only researched by universities, but also used by the private sector, so that they benefit the peasant communities that work to conserve this knowledge.
In this way, Concytec fulfilled the commitments assumed within the Political Partnership Group on Science, Technology and Innovation (PPSTI) and concluded its participation in the Third APEC Senior Officials Meeting (SOM3).
/MPG/NDP/
