WikiPapa Platform and Citizen Science for Millennium Conservators

Abstract

The WikiPapa platform (https://wikipapa.org/inicio) was created in 2021 with the aim of serving a global community. It enables the consolidation of an integrated system that involves farmers (guardians of native potatoes), consumers, high school students, teachers, and researchers. The WikiPapa environment connects people with the biodiversity of native potatoes through technological tools, combined with smartphones, opening up the world of science to students and youth, and fostering learning in the exploration, observation, and discovery of native potato biodiversity. The goal of WikiPapa is to contribute to the in-situ conservation of the endemic biodiversity of native potato varieties from the Andes through citizen science.
The WikiPapa environment is an interactive platform that allows the visualization of a collection of over 800 varieties from Peru, Bolivia, and Colombia. It showcases the distinctive traits of the varieties, including morphological characteristics such as flower color, skin and flesh color, tuber shape, tuber eye depth, and sprout color. It also provides agronomic characteristics such as plant growth period, adaptation to different climates, and resistance to potato pests and diseases, as well as nutritional characteristics and different uses.
WikiPapa integrates with smartphones through the VarScout application, where around 2000 variety observations collected by various citizens are displayed, allowing real-time monitoring. It also provides commercial links and information that enable citizens to support the marketing of native potato varieties, accessing a direct "From Farm to Table" market with fair prices for farmers. Finally, it includes a statistical section with dynamic and intuitive graphs to support decision-making in biodiversity conservation.