The cost of participatory barley breeding

Farmer participation in agricultural research is increasingly seen as a powerful methodology to increase the relevance of technologies developed to benefit farmers' communities. In plant breeding, farmer participation is considered as a way to increase the probability of adoption of new varieties. However, the higher expected cost of participatory plant breeding (PPB) is seen as one of the main obstacles to its wider adoption.This paper addresses the issue of the different costs to an Institution of running a PPB program or a non-participatory program and uses the barley-breeding program at the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) as a case study.Observations and data collection were carried out during one full cropping season on the cost of the three main components of the breeding program, i.e. the management of the field trials (land and seedbed preparation, planting, fertilizer application, weed control, harvesting, and seed threshing, cleaning, treating and packaging), the travel to farmers' fields or to the research sites, and the human resources (scientists, technical staff, local workers and farmers) involved in breeding activities.We compared two options for the centralized–non-participatory breeding program, differing in the number of sites (8 and 16) used for the on-farm trials, with 160 options for the decentralized-participatory breeding program, differing in the combination of number of sites (from 4 to 16) and number of trials per site (from 1 to 10).The results show that in both decentralized-participatory and centralized–non-participatory plant breeding the cost of managing the field trials is the highest followed by the cost of human resources and that of travel: the contribution of each component to the total cost varies with the various options and the various combinations of the number of sites and of farmers.The comparison of the aggregated costs indicates that in the case of the ICARDA' barley-breeding program there are no relevant differences between the participatory and the non-participatory plant breeding programs. This is largely associated with the fact that the decentralized-participatory breeding program reaches the same level of development of the breeding material 3 years earlier than the centralized–non-participatory breeding program. Depending on the type of centralized-breeding program and on the combination of number of sites and number of farmers per site in the participatory program, the aggregated costs of the participatory program are lower than those of the centralized-breeding program by between 5 and 28%. At the same level of cost of the centralized program, the model of participatory program used in this study generates more information due to the use of more trials at each site. This improves selection efficiency and provides an analytical tool to optimize the number of sites and of farmers per site.     

Farmer participation in barley breeding in Syria, Morocco and Tunisia

The paper describes experiments on farmer participation in plant breeding conducted in three countries (Morocco, Syria and Tunisia) on barley, which is the predominant annual rainfed crop in the most marginal areas of these countries. Trials with different types and number of breeding material were planted both on research stations and in farmers' fields. Selection was done by professional breeders and farmers and data were gathered on breeders' and farmers' selection criteria and selection efficiency. The trials reflected the situation of the crop in the three countries, with high yields on station, low yields in some of the most marginal farmers' fields, and poor correlations between research stations and farmers' fields, as well as between farmers' fields. Grain yield was by far the most commonly used selection criterion by the farmers. However, farmers also made a widespread use of selection criteria not normally used by breeders such as grain filling and straw yield, as well as other characteristics of the straw (color) and of the leaves because of the importance of the crop as source of animal feed. A major difference between the selection criteria used by breeders and farmers was disease resistance, almost entirely neglected by the latter. Farmer selection was effective in identifying some of the highest yielding lines in the farmers' own fields and also in those cases where they performed selection on station. The coincidence between entries selected by the breeder and the farmers was high in Morocco but very low in Syria and Tunisia. There were substantial differences between the lines selected by the breeders on station and those selected by farmers in their fields. In Syria, decentralized-participatory selection was significantly more efficient in identifying the highest yielding entries in farmers' fields than any other selection strategy. This work demonstrates that it is possible to organize a plant breeding program so that farmers become major actors in the selection of new cultivars. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Environment of selection and type of germplasm in barley breeding for low-yielding conditions

Summary Thee groups consisting of 332, 243 and 280 barley breeding lines (entries) of known selection history were evaluated in 10, 9 and 8 environments, respectively, to determine the relationship between grain yield in low yielding (LYE) or high yielding (HYE) environment, and selection history and type of germplasm. One cycle of selection in LYE produced on average five times more entries outyielding the best check in LYE than selection in HYE. A retrospective analysis indicated that the highest yielding lines in LYE were lower yielding (15%–28%) in HYE when compared with the best check, and by 20% and 38% compared with the best entries in HYE. In contrast, the highest yielding lines in HYE were lower yielding (4%–33%) in LYE when compared with the best check, and by 33% and 40% when compared with the best entries in LYE. The highest yielding lines in LYE did not differ consistently from the highest yielding lines in HYE for a number of morphological and developmental traits including days to heading. This suggests there are many paths to high yield in LYE and that analytical breeding based on individual traits may not be appropriate for variable environments. Only 0.07% of the highest yielding entries in LYE was selected for high yield in HYE conditions confirming previous results indicating that selection for high yield in HYE is an inefficient strategy for improving yield in low yielding conditions. This frequency is 28 times lower than the frequency of high yielding entries in LYE selected from landraces or crosses with landraces in low yielding conditions. The results imply that the most cost-effective strategy for barley breeding in low yielding conditions is to select repeatedly in low yielding conditions and to include adapted germplasm (landraces) in the breeding material.     

Repetitive cycling and simple recurrent selection in traditional barley breeding programs

Summary A critical examination of three representative barley development programs from three barley producing areas of the world reveals that the evolution of each can be explained by the concepts of simple or phenotypic recurrent selection. Typically, each has utilized only 13 to 16 separate genetic sources in their program. Most of the sources were introduced over 50 years ago and have been progressively recombined through a simple recurrent selection process. The time period required for selection, testing, and reincorporation of improved genetic recombinants into the breeding program, or the completion of a cycle of recurrent selection, ranged from 6.5 to 10.5 years. If the major operative force in barley breeding is recurrent selection, then additional attention should be given to increasing the genetic base and reducing the time required to complete cycles of selection.     

Choice of selection strategy in breeding barley for stress environments

To determine the optimum selection environment for barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) targeted at low-input, stress environment, barley lines were selected for high yield under stress (YS), high yield under non-stress (YNS), or average yield in stress and non-stress conditions (YA) during three breeding cycles (cohorts) of three years each. The lines were then tested in a total of 21 year-location combinations with average grain yields ranging from 0.35 to 4.86 t ha^-1. Yield under stress of the YS lines was between 27% and 54% higher than that of the YNS lines, with the top YS lines yielding under stress between 16% and 30% more than the top YNS lines. Realized heritability was between 0.35 and 0.67 when selection was conducted under stress and was significant in all three cohorts. By contrast, selection under non-stress gave a significant response in only one cohort, and its efficiency in improving yield under stress was significantly lower than selection under stress. The best YNS line ranked only 19th for yield under stress. The highest-yielding lines under stress were not only selected under stress, but were also landraces collected in very dry areas (< 250 mm total annual rainfall). This confirms earlier findings and supports the idea that the most effective way to improve productivity of crops grown in less-favored areas is to use locally adapted germplasm and select in the target environment(s). This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Effectiveness of selection for plant characters of barley in simulated segregating rows

Summary Single plants of 12 barley (Hordeum vulgare L. and H. distichum L.) cultivars were randomized to form simulated segregating (mixed) rows. There were 16 mixed rows 15 cm apart, each row containing 24 plants 5 cm apart. In addition, every third row was a control row of one of the cultivars, Bonanza. Each plant was harvested separately.The cultivars differed significantly for all seven characters measured. These seven characters fell into 3 performance groups. Group I characters, seeds/head, 1000 kernel weight, days to ripe and height, showed a higher variance in the mixed rows than in the control rows, had high average heritabilities, and were consistent in performance from one row to another when measured by correlation amongst the cultivars. In Group II, yield/plant and seeds/plant, variance, heritabilities and performance consistency were all low or non-significant. Group III, heads/plant, fell between Groups I and II. These results suggested that single plants with the desired genotype could be successfully selected for characters in Group I only.The frequency with which the most desirable genotype would actually have been chosen with 12.5% selection intensity generally confirmed the above conclusions but indicated that the degree of differences among genotypes was also important in selecting the most desirable genotypes.Contribution No. NRG 77–9 from the Beaverlodge Research Station.     

An alternative approach to breeding for high diastatic power in barley

Summary Several lines from the cross Akka x Feebar were observed to have -amylase activity considerably in excess of either parent. It is suggested that, from crosses between two-rowed and six-rowed varieties, two-rowed genotypes with enhanced levels of grain nitrogen and -amylase activity may be obtained. These can be successfully exploited in a breeding programme to produce barley varities with high diastic power.     

Specific adaptation and breeding for marginal conditions

Summary Breeding has been very successful in generating cultivars that in favorable environments, and together with large use of fertilizer and chemical control of weeds, pest and diseases, have increased agricultural production several fold. Today the environmental impact of high input agriculture in more favorable environments causes growing concern. By contrast, the impact of breeding in marginal environments has been elusive. The paper discusses evidence showing that the use of breeding principles developed for, and successfully applied, in favorable environments may be the main reason for the lack of breeding progress in marginal environments. Very little breeding work has actually been done in marginal environments, although the theory of correlated responses to selection indicates that selection conducted in good environments or in well-managed experiment stations is not expected to be very efficient when genotype by environment interactions of a cross-over type exist. The assumptions that heritability is higher under good conditions and that there is a carry-over effect of high yield potential are not supported by experimental evidence. If the target environment is below the cross-over point, selection has to be conducted for specific adaptation to that environment. The concept of wide adaptation has more a geographical than an environmental meaning, and it reduces genetic diversity and increases genetic vulnerability. Eventually the issue of genetic heterogeneity versus genetic uniformity is discussed in relation to specific adaptation to marginal environments.     

Relationship between barley grain yield measured in low- and high-yielding environments

Summary The paper addresses the general question of identifying the optimum environment for selection in plant breeding programs for low input agricultural systems. After defining low-yielding and high-yielding environments based on the average grain yield of large numbers of barley genotypes in different cropping seasons, we examined: 1) the phenotypic relationships between the highest yielding genotypes in low- and high-yielding environments, and 2) the genetic correlation coefficients between grain yield in low- and high-yielding environments. The results indicate that the alleles controlling high grain yield in low-yielding conditions are at least partially different from those controlling high grain yield in high-yielding conditions. Therefore, selection in high-yielding environments is expected to produce a negative response or no response in low-yielding environments. This may explain why crop varieties bred under high-yielding conditions failed to have an impact in low-yielding agricultural systems. The results may be extrapolated to systems where environmental concern suggests a reduction of inputs by raising the question of whether crop breeding programs based on selection under high inputs are likely to generate the right type of germplasm for an environmentally friendly agriculture.     

Evaluation of methods for the assessment of malting quality in barley breeding

Summary Methods for assessing malting quality in barley breeding were evaluated for their precision, including variation between different batches, analysts and barley samples. The barley characters measured were grain moisture, ground grain moisture (two methods), grain weight, steep moisture, malt moisture (two methods), malt yield, malt nitrogen, malt soluble nitrogen, Kolbach index, malt diastatic power, malt -amylase, malt -glucanase, wort refractive index, hot water extract, extract yield, wort reducing sugars, wort total carbohydrates, wort -amino nitrogen and wort total nitrogen. The value of these measurements in barley breeding is discussed.     

A recurrent selection programme for grain yield in winter barley

Summary The effect of a recurrent selection procedure was evaluated in a winter barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) population. Cycle zero (C₀) was initiated by crossing six high yielding winter barley cultivars with the short straw cv Onice. The F₁'s were crossed according to a diallel scheme without reciprocals. A total of 750 S₀ plants were derived and evaluated; 329 S₀ plants were selected and their progenies (S₁ lines) tested. Fifteen S₁ lines were chosen and used as parents of cycle 1 (C₁), by producing 105 F₁ hybrids which simulated a random mating offspring. One hundred and three randomly chosen S₁ lines belonging to C₀, and 103 S₁ lines belonging to C₁, were evaluated at two locations.For grain yield a significant difference between cycles was observed. From C₀ to C₁ the grain yield increased with 307 g/m². This increase was due to a higher number of seeds per m². For plant height, heading date and 100-kernel weight no differences between cycles were observed.The positive results obtained in this study indicate the potential usefulness of recurrent selection for developing parents or lines superior for grain yield, with little change in other important agronomic traits.     

Utilization of exotic germplasm in Nordic barley breeding and its consequences for adaptation

Summary Utilization of exotic germplasm is one way to broaden genetic variation in breeding populations. This approach has recently been adopted in Sweden and Finland, where experimental barley populations has been established for research and pre-breeding purposes. The aim of the project is threefold: (1) to increase overall genetic diversity of Nordic barley breeding material; (2) to develop breeding material which possesses a high level of resistance for various barley diseases; and (3) to study effects of exotic germplasm on adaptation and agronomic performance. Both the Finnish and the Swedish barley populations include the same exotic material i.e. unadapted landraces from different parts of Asia and wild barley (Hordeum vulgare ssp. spontaneum) accessions. Locally adapted high-yielding barley lines were included in the populations. The establishment of these populations involved six crossing generations in order to promote recombination and enhance the break-up of linkage blocks. The paper discusses the third aim of the project. Studies on agronomic performance and adaptation showed that (1) agronomically valuable genotypes can be constructed through recombination using exotic germplasm for Nordic conditions, (2) that incorporation of exotic material is most successful when made in a local genetic base and (3) that exotic germplasm has an effect on adaptation.     

Adaptation to low/high input cultivation

Summary Many aeas of world, particular those where agriculture is largely practiced by resource-poor farmers with little or no use of external inputs, have not benefitted from the spectacular yield increases achieved by the combination of modern breeding technologies and use of inputs. The paper argues that because breeding is mostly conducted in presence of high inputs, it has systematically missed the opportunity to exploit genetic differences at low levels of inputs. Many studies show that these differences do exist, particularly in the case of fertilizers, and that these differences can only be identified is selection is conducted under the target level of inputs. Although this was predicted by theory more than 40 years ago, and has been supported by a large body of experimental data, very few breeders select in sub-optimal or stress conditions. The most common justification is the high environmental variation, and hence the lower heritability expected in low input conditions. While this is not supported by experimental evidence, the paper shows that in the case of a typical crop grown in low-input and climatically marginal conditions such as barley, genetic gains are possible by using locally adapted germplasm and by selecting in the target environment. Similar conclusions, in relation to the use of a low-input selection environment, have been reached recently in maize. It is concluded that the best avenue to a sustainable increase of agricultural production in low-input agricultural systems is through locally based breeding programs.     

A framework for analyzing participatory plant breeding approaches and results

Participatory Plant Breeding (PPB) involves scientists, farmers, and others, such as consumers, extensionists, vendors, industry, and rural cooperatives in plant breeding research. It is termed `participatory' because many actors, and especially the users, can have a research role in all major stages of the breeding and selection process. While some have argued that commercial, private sector plant breeding has long been client-driven, or `participatory' under another name, the application of `PPB' to reach poor client groups, to breed for high-stress, heterogeneous environments and to incorporate diverse traits to meet specific client preferences is resulting in fundamental changes in the way plant genetic resources are being managed. PPB merits analysis as a separate approach. The notion of `PPB' is a relatively recent one: detailed inventories show that most of the 65 `longer-term' cases have begun within the last 10 years, whether they were located in public sector or non-governmental crop improvement programs. With such `newness'comes a wealth of terminology and divergent technical, social and organizational strategies under the general rubric of `PPB'. This article aims to set up a framework for differentiating among PPB approaches. Only by discriminating among cases can one understand how each PPB approach can lead to a different outcome, and so be able to make informed choices about which approach to pursue. The key variables explored for discriminating among PPB approaches include: the institutional context, the bio-social environment, the goals set, and the kind of `participation' achieved, (including the stage and degree of participation and the roles different actors undertake). It is only when these variables are clearly described that current and potential practitioners can start to link the `type of PPB' employed (method and organizational forms) with the type of impacts achieved. An ending illustration of ongoing PPB programs suggests the practical utility of this `PPB framework'. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Simultaneous selection of segregating two-row winter barley material in England and Italy

Summary Independent but simultaneous selection by two breeding teams of the same segregating two-row winter barley material at Cambridge, England and Fiorenzuola, Italy was carried out over the years 1978–1982 with the objective of comparing the individual selection of the two breeding teams and assessing the adaptation of the surviving selections. Visual selection in the generations F₃ to F₅ did not result in any clear cut compartmentalisation of the material and both teams were as likely to select from families previously selected only by the other team as from families they had themselves previously selected. Lines with specific adaptation to each site as well as lines well adapted to both sites were identified from yield trials carried out in F₅ and F₆. The former showed only a very small yield advantage over lines with general adaptation to both sites.     

Evaluating resistance of barley breeding lines to scald in field plots

Summary A 0–4 scoring system to quantify scald (Rhynchosporium secalis) infection is suggested. Scores 1, 2, 3 and 4 allocated to represent 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 and 4/4 of the crop canopy scalded are easy to comprehend and intermediate scores e.g. 0.5, 1.5, 2.5 and 3.5 give it the breadth of a quantitative scale. Scores on a large number of lines showed a high degree of repeatability and were found to be highly correlated with the log transformed values of the actual leaf area damage. Although it was suggested that predictions of leaf area damage at scores 3–4 should be applied with caution, broad generalization of the scores in discriminating the amount of disease were shown to be soundly based and offered plant breeders a tool to standardize the evaluation of scald resistance in field plots on a large scale with this quick and reliable scoring system.     

Tracing sources of dwarfing genes in barley breeding in China

To study the origin ofdwarfing genes used in barley breeding inChina, pedigree data of more than 350 dwarfand semi-dwarf cultivars and entriesdeveloped since 1950 were collected. Theresults showed that 68.4% of them werederivatives of just six accessions:`Chibadamai' (CBDM), `Xiaoshanlixiahuang'(XSLXH), `Cangzhouluodamai' (CZLDM),`Aiganqi' (AGQ), `Zhepi 1' and `Yanfu Aizao3' (YFAZ 3). Therefore, these sixaccessions are considered the main donorsof dwarfing genes to barley cultivars bredin China. `CBDM', `XSLXH' and `CZLDM' arelandraces and were used between 1950 and1980. `AGQ', `Zhepi 1' and `YFAZ 3' arereleased cultivars used since 1980. `CBDM',`XSLXH', `CZLDM' and `AGQ' carry the samedwarfing gene uzu on chromosome arm3HL. `Zhepi 1' and `YFAZ 3' likely aremutations at the sdw 1 locus.     

Genotypic and environmental influence upon the nutritional composition of barley grain

Summary The grain yield and contents of the quantitatively predominant nutritional constituents of barley grain were determined in nine adapted spring barley varieties each grown at seven European locations with three or four replications.The largest variation in nutritional composition was due to different environmental conditions, but genotypic effects were also present. Interactions between genotype and environment were small. The average protein content at different locations varied from 8.1 to 14.7 per cent of the grain dry matter, and was not simply related to the amount of fertilizer-N applied.The nutritional composition of the grain was influenced by the grain yield level. The percentage of dietary fiber and protein decreased with increasing grain yield, but some varietal differences which were independent of the grain yield level could be established.The protein quality depended upon the protein level, as the protein contained more prolamin relatively to non-prolamin protein at high than at low protein levels. A difference between two varieties in the prolamin/non-prolamin ratio was consistent over a wide range of variation in protein content.     

Long-term callus cultures of diploid barley (Hordeum vulgare). II. Effect of auxins on chromosomal status of cultures and regeneration of plants

Summary Chromosomal abnormalities increased with time on the relatively high concentrations (2.0mg/l or more) of 2,4-D. Prolonged exposures of cell cultures to high concentrations of 2,4-D significantly increased the percent polyploid mitoses and were also associated with increased abnormalities of the spindle apparatus. Cultures maintained in the presence of NAA had a large number of cells with structural alterations of the chromosomes. The best embryogenic callus production (those maintained on 0.1 and 1.0 mg/l 2.4-D) occurred in cultures with least detectable genetic variation. Plants could not be regenerated from cultures that had been on the maintenance media for seven months or more. The loss of regeneration potential was uniform across the concentrations and auxins tested, and only correlated with time. This loss could not be associated directly with detectable genetic variation.