Multifaceted dynamics in variety and seed choices: the case of pumpkin farmers in northern Vietnam

Abstract

Smallholder farmers’ crop variety and seed choices shape agro-biodiversity and livelihood sustainability. However, existing studies often overlook the dynamic, context-specific nature of these choices. We explored how introductions of hybrid pumpkin affected farmers’ pumpkin variety choices, seed sourcing, and seed management strategies across spatial and temporal contexts. We interviewed 72 stakeholders and 178 households from 3 ethnic groups in 15 villages at 2 altitudes in northern Vietnam. We assessed farmers’ encounters and experimentation with introduced pumpkin types, and why they grew different types, defined by fruit shape and seed origin (self-saved or purchased), using thematic analysis. Farmers were grouped according to the dynamics of their choices. In Mai Son (700 m above sea level), four groups emerged: (i) farmers abandoning traditional types and only growing introduced types, (ii) farmers growing traditional and introduced types, (iii) farmers only growing traditional types after experimenting with introduced types, and (iv) farmers exclusively growing traditional types without trying introduced types. In Sa Pa (1600 m above sea level), the first group was absent. Farmers encountered and experimented with introduced types, resulting in adoption or eventual dis-adoption based on agronomic performance, market opportunities, and how introduced varieties fitted within broader livelihood systems co-influenced by market access, land and labor allocation, and food and feed needs. These factors operated differently across the two agro-ecologies. Traditional types were maintained if serving farmers’ needs, not for conservation. We showed for the first time how the dynamics of variety use were shaped by a range of changes, not static decisions. Simple adoption models are not useful for designing interventions that enhance the use of introduced pumpkins or the conservation of traditional pumpkins: variety choice proved to be an ongoing, dynamic, contextualized process. Interventions need to align with farmers’ shifting priorities and constraints to support innovation and in situ conservation.