Abstract
AbstractParticipatory plant breeding (PPB), commonly applied in the Global South to address the needs of underserved farmers, refers to the active collaboration between researchers, farmers and other actors throughout the breeding process. In spite of significant public and private investments in crop variety improvement in the Global North, PPB is increasingly utilized as an approach to address cropping system needs. The current study conducted a state-of-the-art review, including a comprehensive inventory of projects and five case studies, to explore the emergence of PPB in the Global North and inform future PPB efforts. Case studies included maize (Zea mays), tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), Brassica crops (Brassica oleracea), wheat (Triticum aestivum) and potato (Solanum tuberosum). The review identified 47 projects across the United States, Canada and Europe including 22 crop species representing diverse crop biology. Improved adaptation to organic farming systems and addressing principles and values of organic agriculture emerged as consistent themes. While projects presented evidence that PPB has expanded crop diversity and farmer's access to improved varieties, obstacles to PPB also emerged including challenges in sustained funding as well as addressing regulatory barriers to the commercial distribution of PPB varieties. Agronomic improvements were only one lens motivating PPB, with many projects identifying goals of conservation of crop genetic diversity, farmers' seed sovereignty and avoidance of certain breeding techniques. The authors conclude that a multidisciplinary approach is needed to fully understand the social, political and agroecological influences driving the emergence of projects in the Global North and factors impacting success.
Highlights
Plant breeders, farmers and other stakeholders across the United States (US), Canada (CA) and Europe are working together to breed new or improved crop varieties, an approach commonly known as participatory plant breeding (PPB) (Chiffoleau and Desclaux, 2006; Dawson et al, 2011; Shelton and Tracy, 2016)
The resulting inventory of PPB projects includes an inventory of 22 crop species listed in Table 1, along with locations, actors involved and drivers of the projects
Canada holds a history of PPB approach in international aid in developing countries led by the Unitarian Service Committee of Canada (USC), but it is only in the last decade that a new initiative implementing PPB domestically has emerged, the Bauta Family Initiative on Canadian Seed Security
Summary
Farmers and other stakeholders across the United States (US), Canada (CA) and Europe are working together to breed new or improved crop varieties, an approach commonly known as participatory plant breeding (PPB) (Chiffoleau and Desclaux, 2006; Dawson et al, 2011; Shelton and Tracy, 2016). PPB methodologies are more commonly applied in countries with low-income economies, employed by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), to improve the adaptation of crops grown in marginal and heterogeneous environments and to bolster seed security of farmers underserved by the Green Revolution (Weltzien et al, 2003; Morris and Bellon, 2004). Significant public and private investments in modern breeding programmes and consistent seed availability in the Global North, PPB projects are employed to address farmers’ needs throughout the region. This raises the question of what is driving researchers and farmers to collaborate
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