Small-scale farmers manage genetic variability through a variety of different agricultural techniques. This article describes one such technique, that of maintaining varietal mixtures of a self-pollinated crop - in this case, rice. Sierra Leonean smallholders maintain 2 varieties in the same field not only as a risk avoidance strategy - the 2 varieties together perform better than alone - but also for nutritional purposes. Farmers adapt the composition of the seed mixture from year to year according to their own preferences and experiences.
