Can conventional breeding programmes provide onion varieties that are suitable for organic farming in the Netherlands?

Main stream commercial onion breeders do not select varieties for organic farming, but solely for conventional farming. Seed companies consider the organic market too small to justify investments in breeding for this sector. In order to study if their varieties also suit organic farmers’ needs we interviewed four Dutch commercial onion breeders on their breeding programme and selection criteria and compared the outcome with a variety profile composed of the priority traits of Dutch organic farmers. Breeders gave priority to the same storage and bulb quality traits that are demanded by organic farmers, because organic onions are exported to conventional supermarkets that apply the same quality standards to organic and conventional onions. However, organic farmers also need varieties that perform well in the field. Breeders give low priority to field selection. Furthermore, three of the four seed companies only breed hybrids. The cytoplasmic male sterility system used to produce these hybrids does not comply with organic principles. We conclude that at present breeders can provide varieties that meet organic farmers’ demands for storability and quality traits, but they should give higher priority to field selection to also improve required field traits. The latter will only occur, if in future the organic seed market will grow. If the organic sector wants varieties developed according to its own principles, it should either set up its own onion breeding programme or seek alliances with breeding companies that are prepared to harmonize their breeding methodology with the organic principles.     

Participatory plant breeding in maize: A case study from Gujarat, India

This paper describes how plant breeders and farmers worked together to produce improved varieties of maize for the low-resource farmers of the Panchmahals district of Gujarat, India. Initially, farmers tested a range of maize varieties in a participatory varietal selection (PVS) programme. However, none of these proved to be very popular with farmers, although farmers who had more fertile fields adopted the variety Shweta from Uttar Pradesh. Hence, in 1994 a participatory plant breeding (PPB)programme was begun to generate new, more appropriate varieties. Yellow- and white-endospermed maize varieties were crossed that had been either adopted to some extent following PVS or had attributes, such as very early maturity,that farmers had said were desirable. In subsequent generations, the population was improved by mass selection for traits identified by farmers. In some generations,farmers did this in populations which were grown by breeders on land rented from a farmer. Soil fertility management was lower than that normally used on the research-station. The breeding programme produced several varieties that have performed well in research-station and on-farm trials. One of them, GDRM-187, has been officially released as GM-6 for cultivation in hill areas of Gujarat state,India. It yielded 18% more than the local control in research-station trials, while being seven days earlier to silk. In farmers' fields, where average yields were lower, the yield advantage was 28% and farmers perceived GDRM-187 to have better grain quality than local landraces. PPB produced a variety that was earlier to mature than any of those produced by conventional maize breeding, and took fewer years to do so. The returns from PPB,compared to conventional breeding, are higher because it is cheaper and benefits to farmers are realised earlier. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Effects of farmers' seed management on performance and adaptation of pearl millet in Rajasthan, India

Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum [L.]R.Br.) is the staple food and fodder crop of farmers in the semi-arid areas of north-west India. The majority of farmer sin western Rajasthan depend on their own seed production and employ different seed production strategies that involve different levels of modern-variety introgression into landraces as well as different selection methods. This study quantifies the effects of three seed management strategies on environmental adaptation and trait performance. Forty-eight entries representing farmers’ grain stocks — pure landraces or landraces with introgressed germ plasm from modern varieties — as well as 33 modern varieties, multiplied by breeders or farmers, were evaluated in field trials at three different locations over two years under varying drought-stress conditions. Results indicate that the plant characteristics employed by farmers in describing adaptive value and productivity is an effective approach in discriminating the type of millet adapted to stress and non-stress conditions. It was also found that introgression of modern varieties(MVs) leads to populations with a broader adaptation ability in comparison to pure landraces or MVs alone – but only if MV introgression is practised regularly and is combined with mass panicle selection. Under high-rainfall conditions, farmer grain stocks with MV introgression show similar productivity levels as modern varieties. Under lessening rainfall, pure landraces show, in tendency, higher grain yields. In conclusion, farmers’ seed management could form an integral part of participatory breeding programs. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Organic varieties for cauliflowers and cabbages in Brittany: from genetic resources to participatory plant breeding

Plant breeding for organic agriculture (OA) was stimulated when it came under the European Organic Agriculture Regulation (2092/91) in 2004. In Brittany, the need for specific varieties for organic farming arose early for the Brassica species because of the unsuitability of most of the modern varieties to the principles of OA. Moreover, the private sector of plant breeding finds it economically difficult to satisfy the demands of OA. The aim of the present study is to provide varieties and seed for organic farmers for two vegetable Brassica crops, and to show how genetic resources can contribute to this purpose in the framework of a Participatory Plant Breeding (PPB) programme. The emergence of PPB in Brittany is the result of several concomitant and favourable circumstances: the will of the professionals (represented by IBB, Inter Bio Bretagne), their organization (an experimental station, the PAIS, Plateforme Agrobiologique d’IBB à Suscinio), the research initiative in INRA and the availability of genetic resources. From genetic resource observations, our experience showed several breeding situations: reviving a traditional activity (Roscoff cauliflower and local cabbages), extending tradition (autumn cauliflower), diversifying production by new introductions (coloured cauliflowers), and creating new forms of population varieties (broccoli and coloured cauliflowers). Farmers have taken charge of population breeding by mass selection and the PAIS, with INRA scientific support, has taken up innovative selection and the improvement of varieties completing the farmers’ initiatives. The PAIS remained the central point for information and for providing the seed for trials. Seed production will be managed in a collective way. Until now, the exchange of seed remained an experimental dimension of PPB. French seed legislation represents a limitation on the development of seed exchange by PPB.     

Collaborative and consultative participatory plant breeding of rice for the rainfed uplands of eastern India

We describe a participatory plant breeding (PPB) programme in rice for the rainfed uplands of eastern India. Collaborative participation (farmers grew and selected in segregating materials in their fields) and consultative participation (farmers selected among progenies in researchers' plots) were used. The PPB was started with only two crosses and, of these, Kalinga III/IR64 was the most successful and produced two released varieties: Ashoka 200F from collaborative breeding and Ashoka 228 from consultative breeding. Both yielded significantly more than control varieties, including Kalinga III, in research trials and in participatory trials in farmers' fields. Qualitative data from participatory trials was highly informative, statistically analysable, and cheaper to obtain than quantitative data. In low-yielding research-station and on-farm trials the two new upland varieties showed no significant genotype × environment interaction with the check varieties. However, in higher-yielding All India Coordinated Rice Improvement Project trials, both varieties were more adapted to low yielding environments than the national check variety. Farmers liked the varieties for their early maturity, improved lodging resistance, higher fodder and grain yield, long-slender grains and excellent cooking quality. Before certified seed production, farmer groups have produced large quantities of seed that have spread widely through informal channels. The returns from PPB, compared to conventional breeding, were higher because it cost less, the genetic gains per year were higher, and the benefits to farmers were realised earlier. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Can cultivars from participatory plant breeding improve seed provision to small-scale farmers?

Seed provision for small-scale farmers deals with multiple constraints. These include, on the supply side, high seed production costs and poor adaptedness of the cultivars, and on the demand side, anticyclical demand and low and variable sales. Approaches to improve seed provision to this sector of farmers have so far not been very successful. This paper discusses how well-adapted cultivars developed through participatory plant breeding (PPB) initiatives create new opportunities for production and distribution of quality seed. It reviews supply and demand-side issues, based on research and experiences with seed production. Given better adaptation of PPB-cultivars, the diffusion of seed of PPB initiatives should not be a major bottleneck. But constraints in the provision of quality seed from cultivars that are commonly used remain and need to be addressed. Major points of attention are cost-effective seed production and distribution, high information linked transaction costs, and appropriate seed production technology. Research on these issues is needed to understand farmers’ seed demand. At the same time, these issues need to be taken into account in new seed production initiatives that apply integrated approaches. Long term commitment by farmers to produce, distribute and use seeds is a condition. Even if seed production is not economically sustainable at household or organization level, farmer-based seed systems generate benefits to society as a whole that justify long term public investment to maintain them.     

Landraces and folk varieties: a conceptual reappraisal of terminology

Farmers’ seeds are most often lumped together in one broad category called ‘landraces’. But such a category covers variety types that reflect different levels of farmer involvement. Those differences matters when we discuss such issues as genetic erosion, on-farm conservation and seed related policies. The term landrace can be traced to the time when ‘modern’ varieties of cereals were introduced to European farmers in the late nineteenth century. The farmers’ varieties of the time were called ‘landraces’ and understood as seeds adapted to local growing conditions through natural adaptation usually with no intentional selection. But the term was quickly adopted as generic for all farmers’ varieties including those that are bred and maintained by active seed selection on-farm. Such farmer-bred varieties are better termed ‘folk varieties’. The article discusses how interaction of crop characteristics and developing technologies resulted in the evolution of crop varieties as either landraces or folk varieties. It is argued that vulnerability to different agents of genetic erosion and feasibility of on-farm conservation are clearly different for the two categories of farmers’ varieties. Likewise seed policies, particularly the issue of Farmers’ Rights would benefit from clarity of type of farmers’ varieties.     

转型时期杂交水稻的困境与出路

杂交水稻技术是我国自主创新并领先于世界的重大技术, 杂交水稻技术在水稻生产中的成功应用为保障我国粮食安全做出了巨大贡献。由于杂交稻品种选育策略和种子生产与经营方式没有适应目前水稻生产的转型变化, 最近几年我国杂交稻的种植面积有下降的趋势。这并不是杂交稻技术本身的问题, 国内外的生产实践证明杂交稻仍然代表先进的水稻生产技术。如果我们尽快地调整杂交稻的育种目标, 培育出适合于轻简化和机械化水稻生产方式、综合抗性好、资源利用效率高、稻米品质优良的杂交稻组合, 通过轻简化和机械化栽培技术降低杂交稻的种子生产成本和种子价格, 我国的杂交稻有望迅速走出目前的困境。     

Farmers' seed selection practices and traditional maize varieties in Cuzalapa, Mexico

Experimental results and farmer surveys from a Mexican community located in the buffer zone of a biosphere reserve indicate that farmers' seed selection practices protect the phenological integrity of their traditional maize varieties as they define them, despite numerous factors contributing to genetic instability. Analysis of morphological and genetic data suggests that when subjected to significant gene flow through cross-pollination, ear characteristics are maintained through farmers' selection even though other characteristics may continue to evolve. Because the effects of farmers' selection practices are confined largely to ear characteristics, their practices appear to offer only limited scope for variety improvement. Farmers' expectations of what they can achieve through seed selection are similarly limited. These findings suggest complementary roles for professional breeders and Mexican farmers in enhancing mass selection methods to improve maize landraces on farms – if farmers themselves perceive benefits from the collaboration. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Linking participatory plant breeding to the seed supply system

There is a strong link between formal plant breeding and seed supply. In developed countries, it was the emergence of systematic plant breeding that generated new named varieties and stimulated organized seed multiplication and marketing by commercial companies. In developing countries likewise, the experience of the ‘Green Revolution’ in the 1960’s led to the establishment in the following decade of national seed projects which could deliver the products of plant breeding more effectively from breeder to farmer. The provision of a secure conduit leading from research to agriculture remains a major justification for formal seed systems. The limitations of formal breeding approaches have been recognized in recent years, especially for crops grown in marginal and diverse environments, where farmers’ requirements are more complex. This has prompted interest in alternative participatory plant breeding strategies in which farmers can play an active role in the selection process. There has been a parallel recognition of the role of the informal seed sector, as the major seed supplier in many crops and areas where the regular sale of seed by formal organizations is difficult. The question which arise therefore is—“How do participatory breeding approaches relate to both formal and informal seed systems?” The purpose of this paper is to examine the technical, regulatory and policy aspects of this question, with emphasis on the following issues:

• The nature and definition of participatory plant breeding (PPB) outputs,
• Maintaining the identity and integrity of PPB outputs
• The relevance of official variety evaluation and registration procedures
• Maximizing the diffusion and impact of PPB outputs
• Innovative seed supply systems linked to PPB activities
• The role of policy in facilitating alternative seed delivery systems

The synthesis of this discussion is that PPB initiatives must be linked to a secure diffusion strategy within and beyond the participating communities if the technical and social benefits of this approach are to be fully realized. National policies relating to seeds and regulatory frameworks must also take account of this approach to avoid downstream constraints.     

Farmers’ participation and breeding for durable disease resistance in the Andean region

In the Andean region, the Preduza project and its partners combined breeding for durable disease resistance using locally adapted cultivars and farmer participatory methods. The approach taken resembles participatory variety selection (PVS). Farmers participated in the selection of advanced materials, rather than finished cultivars. This paper describes this approach and reports experiences with farmers–breeders collaboration. As breeders involved farmers as participants, they learned more about the most important criteria of male and female farmers for preferred cultivars in the marginal environments of Andean cropping systems. This approach encouraged the use of locally adapted cultivars (often landraces), made the breeders less dependent on foreign materials, and has resulted in selection and development of new wheat, barley, common bean, quinoa, potato and maize cultivars. Breeding programmes based on crossing locally adapted cultivars followed by selection by the breeders in the early phases of the breeding programmes and by participatory selection with the farmers in the more advanced stages of the breeding programmes appeared successful. It became clear that breeders must be well acquainted with the farmer preferences such as the requirements for specific agronomic, storage, processing and marketing traits. Over a period of five years the centralized formal breeding approach predominantly based on material produced by the international institutes was replaced by decentralized breeding approaches based largely on local germplasm with extensive farmer participation.     

Aspects of participatory plant breeding for quinoa in␣marginal areas of Ecuador

Summary Field trials were carried out in Ecuador with two indigenous communities, Ninín Cachipata and La Esperanza, to determine farmers’ preferences for quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) cultivars and to improve PPB processes. More women than men participated, reflecting that quinoa, a primarily subsistence crop, is mainly managed by women. Farmers’ field selection criteria for quinoa in the field were mostly based on yield, earliness and plant colour; however only breeders’ measurements of yield and panicle height significantly correlated to farmer selection scores. Older women gave higher scores than younger women or men, apparently due to a concept of no cultivar being without value. Working in same gender pairs improved evaluation richness. INIAP technicians were more discriminating in their evaluations than farmers. They also used additional selection criteria of disease resistance and uniformity. At seed selection, farmers from Ninín Cachipata, where food security is not assured, chose lines based on yield, while farmers from La Esperanza, where resources are less limiting, also considered seed size, colour, saponin content and marketability. Field characteristics were not taken into consideration at seed selection, signifying that farmers are less interested in those characteristics, or that it was difficult for them to correlate field data when presented in tabular form with seed characteristics. Future trials with small farmers should have fewer lines or replications to avoid farmer fatigue during evaluation. Farmers who grow primarily for subsistence in semi-arid environments have more interest in growing quinoa, and more to gain from having improved cultivars; therefore future participatory efforts should focus on them.     

Some remarks on the breeding of field crops in the Netherlands

Summary In the Netherlands the home-bred varieties are developed almost entirely by private establishments. The Government institutes (Institute of Agricultural Plant Breeding and Foundation for Agricultural Plant Breeding) at Wageningen give advice to the breeders of field crops.The private plant breeders are informed of the results obtained and the working methods. They receive plant material for their breeding programme.The List of Varieties is the reference guide not only for the farmers but also to the plant breeders and the seedsmen. In the case of field crops it forms the basis for the seed inspection. A close connection exists between the breeding, variety-list and seed inspection.     

Decentralized selection and participatory approaches in plant breeding for low-input systems

Heterogeneous environments make it difficult to apply consistent selection pressure because often it is difficult to identify a single or a few superior genotypes across all sets of conditions. However, when the target system is characterized by heterogeneity of environmental stress, varieties developed in high-yielding conditions may fail to satisfy farmers’ needs. Although this type of system is often found in marginal environments of developing countries, heterogeneous environmental conditions are also a feature of organic and low-external-input systems in developed countries. To meet the needs of these systems, breeding programs must decentralize selection, and although decentralized selection can be done in formal breeding programs, it is more efficient to involve farmers in the selection and testing of early generation materials. Breeding within these target systems is challenging, both genetically and logistically, but can identify varieties that are adapted to farming systems in marginal environments or that use very few external inputs. A great deal has been published in recent years on the need for local adaptation and participatory plant breeding; this article reviews and synthesizes that literature.     

How narrowly adapted are the products of decentralised breeding? The spread of rice varieties from a participatory plant breeding programme in Nepal

Acceptable rice varieties for high-altitude areas of Nepal were bred by participatory plant breeding (PPB). One of the most adopted varieties, Machhapuchhre-3 (M-3), performed much better in the formal trials system than the products from centralised breeding and was released in 1996. From 1996 to 1999, the spread of M-3 was monitored in high-altitude villages along with unreleased variety Machhapuchhre-9 (M-9), derived from the same cross. The study was done by interviewing individual households, groups, and field verification. Both M-3 and M-9 spread from farmer-to-farmer and through interventions by Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) and Government Organisations (GOs). Their adoption had steadily increased and their spread commenced five to six years earlier than would have been the case in a conventional system. The PPB programme was decentralised – all selection was in only two villages in the same valley – but this did not result in specific adaptation. The varieties were adopted in distant villages situated at much lower altitudes to the original PPB sites and the greatest yield advantage of the varieties over the local landraces was also at these lower altitudes. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Partnering with farmers to accelerate adoption of new technologies in South Asia to improve wheat productivity

There are many socioeconomic and technological constraints that affect the production of wheat and other staple cereals in South Asia. Wheat production is one of the economic mainstays in South Asia, but the yield gap between farmers’ fields and experimental yields is wide across the region. For the last 3 years, CIMMYT and the CAZS-NR have been collaborating with farmers, NARS, and other South Asian partners to promote improved wheat varieties and new resource conservation technologies (RCTs) in farmers’ fields. Participation fostered among farmers, scientists, extension specialists, NGOs and the private sector included variety selection (PVS), and evaluation of agronomic practices. Through PVS, several farmer-preferred technologies have been identified including wheat varieties for adverse conditions in eastern Uttar Pradesh (India) and for boron deficiency in parts of Nepal. There has been considerable improvement in the access of farmers to new varieties and technologies in the rural areas. Yield increases (15–70%) have been achieved by resource-poor farmers over the existing varieties through the adoption of new varieties and RCTs. The farmers have also made substantial cost savings and achieved higher yields through resource-conserving agronomic techniques such as zero till. Seed of the new farmer-selected cultivars has been multiplied by groups of collaborating farmers and widely distributed.     

Participatory plant breeding approach for host plant resistance to bean fly in common bean under semi-arid Kenya conditions

Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is the most important legume crop in Kenya. It is cultivated across a wide range of agro-ecologies which include high potential and marginal areas. Eastern Kenya alone, largely semi-arid, accounts for 35% of the country’s total bean production. Bean farmers mainly small-scale have limited access to quality seed, chemical pesticides and fertilizer. Therefore, bean yield under on-farm conditions still remains below 500 kg ha⁻¹ while the potential is about 1,200 kg ha⁻¹ under semi-arid conditions. To asses the farmers’ views on bean varieties and a key insect pest and associated constraints contributing to yield loss, research was undertaken. The research included survey to quantify the yield loss and Participatory Rural Appraisal to determine the level of adoption and criteria for variety choice in semi-arid eastern Kenya (SAEK). The results show that farmers consider drought and insect pest problems as main causes for low yields. The adoption rate for improved varieties is high but self sufficiency in beans stands at 23% in the dry transitional (DT) agro-ecology and at 18% in the dry mid-altitude (DM) agro-ecology, respectively. This could be attributed to low adaptability since most of the improved varieties grown were selected for high potential areas but now found in marginal areas. Drought, earliness, yield stability, and insect pest resistance are the main reasons for choice of varieties by farmers. Bean fly (Ophiomyia sp.) was identified as one of the key crop pests of beans limiting yield. Besides, African bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera) and bean aphid (Aphis fabae) were ranked higher. Due to limitations of the conventional breeding approach, a participatory plant breeding approach is suggested so as to provide an opportunity to develop insect pest resistant varieties adapted to the SAEK region.     

Identifying superior rainfed barley genotypes in farmers’ fields using participatory varietal selection

This study was carried out to identify superior barley genotypes for the rainfed areas of western Iran using a participatory varietal selection (PVS) approach. Three field experiments were conducted in two randomly selected farmers’ fields and in one rainfed research station in the 2006–07 cropping season with 69 genotypes (including one local and one improved check). Several univariate and multivariate methods were used to analyze qualitative (farmers’ scores) and quantitative (grain yield) data. Individual farmers’ scores in each village were positively correlated, indicating that the farmers tended to discriminate genotypes in similar fashion, although the genotypes actually selected by farmers were different in the two villages. In recent years, a greater number of farmers in western Iran preferred the improved variety (Sararood-1) over the local barley (Mahali), while in this project the farmers preferred the new genotypes over the two checks. This was also verified by the quantitative data showing that the checks were outyielded by the new genotypes. Farmers were efficient in identifying the best genotypes for their specific environment, as shown by biplot analysis, indicating their competence in selection. The genotypes selected by the breeder and farmers were almost similar but some differences existed. In conclusion, PVS is a powerful way to involve farmers for selecting and testing new cultivars that are adapted to their needs, systems and environments.     

Participatory plant breeding with maize in Mexico and Honduras

Maize is a staple food crop in many developing countries. However, if seven major maize producing countries are excluded from this group, data indicate that only 34% of the maize area is planted with improved seed despite considerable effort invested in maize breeding. This has led researchers to investigate other options, such as farmer-participatory plant breeding, for delivering the benefits of plant breeding knowledge and technology to farmers in developing countries. This paper describes short-term results from participatory maize breeding studies in Mexico and Honduras. Results from three selection cycles in Mexico suggest that stratified mass selection without pollination control, with selections carried out by researchers in farmers' fields, may be effective at improving yield in farmers' local varieties. In Honduras, mass selection with pollination control, where selections were done by collaborating farmers in their own fields on their own varieties, showed trends (non-significant) towards yield improvement. Farmer selection seemed to offer the greatest yield benefit over experiment station selection on the farm with the lowest yield potential, suggesting that farmer-participatory approaches may be most advantageous in marginal environments where experiment station conditions differ most dramatically from farmers' conditions. These studies highlighted the importance of seed systems knowledge in designing participatory plant breeding programs. For cross-pollinated crops, they also highlighted the need to balance progress from selection and demands on farmers' time and labor in choosing breeding methods. Further work is needed to investigate farmer-participatory breeding approaches that can address post-harvest traits. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.