Genere e patrimoni di diversità agrobioculturale negli orti alpini

The agro-bio-cultural diversity is wholly defined as the result of the duo nature-culture interaction of the agro-food systems. Home-gardens are a perfect example of this interaction. Gender is also a cultural result of the physical-natural elements. In this work the differences in the home-garden cultivation among women (F), men (M) and women with men (FM) groups are described and discussed. In the survey (40 interviews) both the agro-bio-diversity and all the agricultural practices are examined. The research was carried out in two Alpine valleys: the Po Valley (Ostana and Oncino municipalities) and the Pellice Valley (Rorà municipality). The plant species were divided in five categories: trees (A), horticultural varieties (B), flowers (C), endemic and semi-endemic plants (D), cereals (E). The results highlights many differences in the home-garden conduction by only women, only men and women with men groups: these lasts evidence a deeper mix in home-garden practices, that include an higher variety in horticultural species, the cooking, the aesthetic exploitation by the flowers and the endemic species, the fruit tree cultivation. Women and men together enhance the gender specificity also in these agricultural practices: the balanced women and men cultivation of the home-gardens in the Alpine valleys is not only a biodiversity reserve but also a cultural identity that must be preserved and handed down