Farmers and plant breeders: an essential partnership for poverty reduction

Farmers understand seeds and crop varieties, knowing how and when to use them. They are often willing to try out new varieties, but often plant breeding systems and the new seeds they produce do not reach farmers. In particular, resource-poor farmers in marginal areas rarely benefit from new high-yielding varieties. How can farmers and plant breeders work more closely and develop partnerships for poverty reduction?

The UK Department for International Development’s Plant Sciences Research Programme uses two approaches to building these partnerships: Participatory Varietal Selection (PVS) and Participatory Plant Breeding (PPB). PVS is a research method and an extension process that allows farmers to test existing seed varieties in their own fields. This enables farmers to evaluate the test results and identify weaknesses in different varieties. A PPB process can then follow, involving farmers in crossbreeding to eliminate these weaknesses.

In many plant breeding programmes, few new varieties are actually tested on farms. By contrast, PVS and PPB provide farmers with a wide range of seeds to test. This is a great advantage, as it increases the variety and genetic diversity of seeds at both regional and local levels. This can have positive impacts on the biodiversity of a region. A second advantage is the high level of uptake of new varieties amongst both poor and wealthy farmers.

• In the Terai of Nepal, a PVS and PPB programme has created new varieties of rice. These varieties are adapted to rain-fed, low-fertility conditions. They increase yields by up to 50 percent compared to local cultivars and are sold for higher prices at markets.
• In Gujarat, India, a PVS programme highlighted the early maturity of rice crops as a priority for farmers. This led to the identification of a new early-maturing rice variety that is more resistant to pests and diseases, and so requires fewer chemicals. This also means that production costs are lower.
• In Ghana, a PPB programme focused on cassava varieties resistant to cassava mosaic disease. A diverse range of seedlings was distributed and their progress was evaluated by a scientific team and by farmers. After two years, 9 percent of the original 2000 seedlings were selected; farmers now prefer these.

PPB and PVS programmes improve collaboration between plant breeders and farmers. However, although some farmers participate, they represent a small percentage of the total farming population in countries where the programmes are running. The research focus now needs to encourage the spread of useful varieties beyond the limits of PPB and PVS programmes. There are different ways to achieve this:

• New varieties can be officially released at national or state level. In 2001, two new varieties of rice seed from a PPB programme were released in India. Many farmers preferred the new varieties and they grew successfully in the drought of 2002.
• Most farmers in marginal areas do not buy seed regularly, either saving their own seeds or getting them from other farmers. One effective small-scale dissemination mechanism is seed funds, run by village seed committees. Farmers can ‘borrow’ a kilo of seed from the fund and ‘return’ two kilos at the end of the season.

Participation allows plant breeders and farmers to learn from each other. Breeders know about appropriate methods and genetic resources. Farmers contribute local knowledge and can test seeds under local conditions. Farmer participation speeds up the process of new varieties being adopted and, if appropriate dissemination mechanisms are used, increases the spread of new varieties.

Source(s):
‘Farmers and Plant Breeders in Partnership’, DFID Plant Sciences Research Programme and Centre for Arid Zone Studies, by C.M Stirling and J.R Witcombe, 2004

Funded by: Department for International Development (DFID) Plant Sciences Research Programme, DFID India and the Government of India

id21 Research Highlight: 20 May 2005

Further Information:
John Witcombe
Centre for Arid Zone Studies
University of Wales
Bangor, Gwynedd
LL57 2UW
UK

Tel: +44 (0) 1248 382116
Fax: +44 (0) 1248 371533
Contact the contributor: j.r.witcombe@bangor.ac.uk

Centre for Arid Zone Studies, University of Wales, UK

Plant Sciences Research Programme, DFID, UK

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