Efficiency of farmers' selection in a participatory barley breeding programme in Jordan

Abstract

The study assessed farmersÕ and breedersÕ selection efficiencies in one cycle of selection in a participatory barley breeding program. The selectors were compared with each other for objectively measured agronomic traits and for their selection scores. FarmersÕ scores were positively correlated with grain yield in all locations while breedersÕ scores not always. The selection criteria of farmers varied with location; those in low-moisture areas selected for tall plants while those in high rainfall area for short. BreedersÕ gave high scores to tall entries regardless of the selection environment. The results showed that in all locations farmers were at least as efficient as or, in most cases, more efficient than breeders in identifying high yielding genotypes with desirable traits for their specific environment indicating their competence in selection. Breeders appeared to select for their wide geographic mandate area while farmers focused on their specific locality. The finding indicates that decentralized participatory plant breeding is important to increase and stabilize productivity and maintain genetic diversity as each pocket area is occupied by the best and different genotypes.

A review of breeding objectives, genomic resources, and marker-assisted methods in common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)

“…A variety of factors that include different users groups (women/men, more market-oriented/ home consumption), a range of agroecological zones, and preference information (from participants including households, farmers, traders, and processors) are resulting in fine-tuning of formal breeding programs. Conventional plant breeding has been successful in developing bean cultivars that can be used in environments that are fairly homogenous and stable, but it has been less effective in developing cultivars in complex and marginalized drought affected environments (Ceccarelli et al 2000;Fufa et al 2010;Assefa et al 2014) Conventional plant breeding is also framed to accommodate limited requirements and the particular needs of farmers and particular growing environments (Assefa et al 2014). Through demand-led breeding (DLB), bean breeders can also enhance varietal diversity through involvement of actors throughout the value chain, as well as minimizing effort that might be invested in developing varieties that are unacceptable to farmers and local communities, and traders/processors.…”

Genetic diversity of on-farm selected olive trees in Moroccan traditional olive orchards

“…The results of many studies in several species have revealed the value of participatory varietal selection in maintaining a high level of genetic diversity (Almekinders and Elings, 2001;Zhang et al, 2011). They indicated that farmers' knowledge-based approaches are efficient in identifying high-yielding genotypes with traits of interest for their specific cropping environment, therefore highlighting farmers' know-how in selecting and conserving local genetic resources (Fufa et al, 2007(Fufa et al, , 2010.…”

Adaptability Evaluation and Selection of Improved Tef Varieties in Growing Areas of Southern Ethiopia

“…Participation of farmers' in varietal choice has considerable value in technology evaluation and dissemination. Participatory varietal evaluation and selection is being conducted in some crops like common bean [5] and barley [6]. According to Courtois et al [7] evaluated the effect of participation of farmers by comparing only the rankings of varieties by farmers and researchers at the same locations and reported a strong concordance between farmers and breeders in environments that have been producing contrasting plant phenotypic performance in rice.…”