Over the last 5,000 years the biogeography of Ch. quinoa has changed greatly, mainly by human influence, convenience and preference. It has changed not only in the area of distribution, but also in regards to the climate this plant was originally adapted to, in contrast to the climates on which it is able to do successfully grow in now. There are wide discrepancies in the suggested dates of introduction, one study suggest c. 1000 BC as introduction date while another 600–1100 AD. In colonial times the plant is known to have been cultivated as far south as Chiloé Archipelago and the shores of Nahuel Huapi Lake. The cuisine of Chiloé included bread made of Quinoa until at least the mid-19th century. In Chile it had almost disappeared by the early 1940s; as of 2015 the crop is mostly grown in three areas by only some 300 smallholder farmers. Each of these areas is different: indigenous small-scale growers near the border with Bolivia who grow many types of Bolivian forms using the Inca ayllu clan[citation needed] system, a few farmers in the central region who exclusively grow a white-seeded variety and generally market their crops through a well-known cooperative, and in the south by women in home gardens in Mapuche reserves.
