Participatory Plant Breeding

Abstract

It is widely recognized that conventional plant breeding has been more beneficial to farmers in high potential environments or those who could profitably modify their environment to suit new cultivars than to the poorest farmers who could not afford to modify their environment through the application of additional inputs and could not risk the replacement of their traditional, well-known, and reliable varieties. As a consequence, low yields, crop failures, malnutrition, famine, and eventually poverty still affect a large proportion of humanity. Participatory plant breeding (PPB) is seen by several scientists as a way to overcome the limitations of conventional breeding by offering farmers the possibility to decide which varieties better suit their needs and conditions without exposing the household to any risk during the selection progress. PPB exploits the potential gains of breeding for specific adaptation through decentralized selection, defined as selection in the target environment, and is the ultimate conceptual consequence of a positive interpretation of genotype × environment interactions. The chapter describes a model of PPB in which genetic variability is generated by breeders, selection is conducted jointly by breeders, farmers, and extension specialists in a number of target environments, and the best selections are used in further cycles of recombination and selection. Therefore, from a scientific viewpoint, the process is similar to a conventional breeding program with three main differences, namely (a) testing and selection take place on-farm rather than on-station, (b) key decisions are made jointly by farmers and breeder, and (c) the process can be independently implemented in a large number of locations. Farmers handle the first phases of seed multiplication of promising breeding material in village-based seed production systems. The model has the following advantages: the varieties reach the release phase earlier than in conventional breeding, the release and seed multiplication concentrate on varieties known to be acceptable by farmers, biodiversity increases because different varieties are selected in different locations, the varieties fit the agronomic management that farmers are familiar with and can afford, and, therefore, the varieties can be beneficial to poor farmers. These advantages are particularly relevant to developing countries where large investments in plant breeding have not resulted in production increases, especially in marginal environments. In addition to the economical benefits, participatory research has a number of psychological, moral, and ethical benefits which are the consequence of a progressive empowerment of the farmers’ communities; these benefits affect sectors of their life beyond the agricultural aspects. In conclusion, PPB, as a case of demand-driven research, gives voice to farmers, including those who have been traditionally the most marginalized such as the women, and elevates local knowledge to the role of science.