Marrons in Suriname merge rice's best properties

Crops tell us much about the history of populations across the globe. Genetic traces can be found in DNA, revealing the crop’s origin, such as in rice varieties in Suriname. During the era in which enslaved people were traded across the Atlantic, rice cultivation there gained momentum. Their descendants, the Marron, cultivate many different rice varieties. ‘Their history is written on their fields’, says evolutionary biologist Marieke van de Loosdrecht. ‘The Marron farmers, almost all women, are the guardians of their own history and of an enormous variety in rice.’

With Tinde van Andel and Nicholas Pinas of Naturalis and Eric Schranz of the Biosystemics group, Van Loosdrecht searches for small variations in the Suriname rice’s DNA. Here, the DNA differs by only a single letter or nucleotide from other varieties. These variations may match the DNA of the same crop elsewhere in the world. Thus, researchers can uncover the historical route the crop and humans may have travelled in the past.

Correcting history

Preliminary results from the ongoing study confirm the stories the Marron tell about their ancestors. The DNA found in Suriname rice varieties is a mixture of foreign influences from different eras in history. Genetic evidence of all those foreign rice varieties is found in the rice cultivated by the Marron. ‘They have experimented with these new variations on their own’, Van de Loosdrecht concludes.

The study even, to some degree, illuminates a new aspect of history. ‘In some cases, the DNA data differs from historical written sources. The latter appear to be rather subjective. That is important information, as there is a lot to be resolved for the descendants of those that were enslaved.’

Robust agriculture

Still, it is not only history that is interesting, but the future as well. The rice varieties from Suriname are more robust than the varieties that are cultivated the most throughout the world. Van de Loosdrecht: ‘The Marron varieties can survive much harsher climate conditions. These people are rice cultivation experts. They know precisely what varieties thrive under what ecological conditions.’

In this age of climate change and other environmental issues, robust crops are becoming increasingly important. The next step is to investigate what properties the Marron have selected in their rice varieties and why. ‘There is much the rest of the world can learn’, says Van de Loosdrecht. ‘The rice we buy in our supermarkets comes from a few varieties in Asia. The Marron have retained a much larger genetic variation in the rice, making the crop more resilient.’

Moving with nature

‘I believe we could be much more flexible in our farming strategies. We need to stop trying to control the environment and move with nature within the ecological boundaries of the area. The first farmers in prehistoric times did the same’, Van de Loosdrecht says, referring to her previous research into the era in which farming emerged and developed. ‘We have become a little too good at controlling the environment with herbicides and artificial fertilisers. Nature should be the framework within which we develop our agriculture.’