Project
Hidden crop diversity in Suriname
Maroons, descendants of enslaved Africans who escaped from plantations into the interior forests of Suriname, cultivate an astonishing number of rice varieties, most of which are Asian rice (Oryza sativa) and a few are African rice (O. glaberrima). We will trace the geographic origin of Maroon rice by characterizing their genomic diversity and compare them to modern and historic rice accessions and crop wild relatives from the Guianas, West Africa, Asia and the US, by means of whole-genome sequencing.
This project, Hidden crop diversity in Suriname: tracing the origins of Maroon rice by integrating ethnobotany and genomics, is funded by NWO: ENW-Klein II.
Read our latest papers:
2-11-2023 Cultureel erfgoed van Naks. "Duurzame landbouwpraktijken van Surinaamse marrongemeenschappen".
"Wat een rijstkorrel vertelt over het slavernijverzet in Suriname"."Wat een rijstkorrel vertelt over het slavernijverzet in Suriname".
"De kracht van Sapali",
Pinas, N.; van de Loosdrecht M.; van Andel T.R.; 2023 Vernacular names of traditional rice varieties reveal the unique history of Maroons in Suriname and French Guiana. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12231-023-09571; https://www.springer.com/journal/12231
Van Andel et al. 2022: Maroon women still grow rice varieties named after their ancestors who hid seeds in their hair when they escaped slavery in Suriname.
Outreach: TV-interview in September 2021 in Suriname.
dr. Marieke van de Loosdrecht won the 3rd price L'oreal Unesco 2023. L'oreal Unesco Price
https://khmw.nl/for-women-in-science-awards-2023-uitgereikt/
Maat, H., N Pinas, TR van Andel. 2023. The role of crop diversity in escape agriculture; rice cultivation among Maroon communities in Suriname. Plants, People, Planet.
Sporen van Haar Article in Parool newspaper.
Guardian article about the research of Phd-student Nicholaas Pinas.
https://www.the...mate-resilience