秘魯的庫斯科（Cusco）地區是馬鈴薯品種多樣性的集中地，而當地已決定封殺基因改造品系。當地農民組織憂心來自基改馬鈴薯的基因會散播到本土品種，使其獨特的性狀發生改變。庫斯科地方政府19日發佈的這項命令，於6月底投票時得到多數支持肯定，以保護數千種本土馬鈴薯品系的基因多樣性。
該命令禁止對基改馬鈴薯與其他基改作物進行販賣、耕種、使用及運輸。馬鈴薯在庫斯科地區已有數千年的耕種歷史，幫助哺育了古老的印加王朝。
古都庫斯科是美州人類居住歷史最久遠的城市，與鄰近的馬丘·比丘（Machu Picchu) ——剛被選為新世界七大奇景之一的印加失落之城——同為聯合國教科文組織指定的世界遺產位址。
馬鈴薯起源自南美洲的高地。秘魯與其他安地斯山區鄰國是這種作物的多樣性集中地，農民歷經世代培育出超過4000種不同的品系。
現今有超過1200萬人居住在庫斯科地區，多數是小規模耕種的農民，而馬鈴薯是他們最重要的作物。當地農民組織憂心來自基改馬鈴薯的基因會散播到本土品種，使其獨特的性狀發生改變。
提議此基改禁令的，是地方政府環境辦公室主任卡巴耶羅（Caballero），「以彰顯馬鈴薯及其他本土作物對庫斯科地區歷史上、文化上、社會上與經濟上的重要性。」
當地馬鈴薯農民團體與庫斯科當地非政府組織Asociacion ANDES聯合對此命令申請提案，並得到投票通過。他們在提案上與位於倫敦的獨立非營利研究機構IIED（International Institute for Environment and Development，國際環境與發展機構）合作。Asociacion ANDES主席阿爾古美多（Argumedo）表示「這在秘魯是首開先例，也是庫斯科居民的一大勝利。」
A region of Peru that is a center of potato diversity has banned genetically modified varieties of the tuber. The Cusco regional government's Order 010 - approved by majority vote on June 21 and made public today - is intended to protect the genetic diversity of thousands of native potato varieties.
The order forbids the sale, cultivation, use and transport of genetically modified potatoes as well as other native food crops. Potatoes have been cultivated in the Cusco region for thousands of years and helped to feed the ancient Inca empire.
The regional capital Cusco is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the Americas. Along with nearby Machu Picchu, the Lost City of the Incas just named one of the new seven wonders of the world, Cusco is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The potato originated in the highlands of South America. Peru and its Andean neighbor countries are the crop's center of diversity - with more than 4,000 distinct varieties that farmers have developed over generations.
Today, more than 1.2 million people live in the Cusco region. Many are small-scale farmers for whom the potato is their most important crop.
Local farmers' organizations fear that genes from genetically modified, GM, potatoes could transfer into local varieties and alter their unique properties.
The head of the regional government's environmental office, Abel Caballero, proposed the ban "in recognition of the historical, cultural, social and economic importance of the potato and other native crops to the Cusco Region."
Order 010 was passed in response to proposals submitted by a network of local potato farming communities and Asociacion ANDES, an indigenous nongovernmental organization based in Cusco.
They collaborated on the proposals with the International Institute for Environment and Development, IIED, an independent, non-profit research institute based in London "This is unprecedented for Peru and a great victory for the communities of Cusco," says Alejandro Argumedo, director of Asociacion ANDES.
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