Participatory Plant Quality Breeding: An Ancient Art Revisited by Knowledge Sharing. The Portuguese Experience

Long‐term on‐farm participatory maize breeding by stratified mass selection retains molecular diversity while improving agronomic performance

“…With the development of modern sustainable low‐input agriculture in industrialized countries, for economic and environmental reasons, emphasis has been placed on local adaptation, on preservation of genetic diversity, and on quality (Cleveland, Soleri, & Smith, ). Conventional plant breeding has been successful in favorable environments, but is less successful in traditional low‐input or organic farming systems with higher stress growing conditions, especially in small‐scale farms (Vaz Patto et al., ). Under this scenario, participatory plant breeding (PPB) programs are arising worldwide to meet the needs of farmers in low‐input and organic environments that are normally overlooked by conventional crop breeders (Vaz Patto et al., ).…”

“…In the case of maize, the more heterogeneous open-pollinated populations, adapted to specific environmental conditions and human uses, have progressively been replaced in the last century by homogeneous, higher-yielding commercial hybrids (Pingali, 2001). Still, open-pollinated populations cultivation has been maintained, often in marginal lands or low-input systems where commercial hybrids are not well adapted (Vaz Patto et al, 2013). They may also be kept by their dietary or nutritional value, taste, or for the price premium they attract because of high-quality traditional properties that compensate for lower yields (Jarvis, Hodgkin, Sthapit, Fadda, & Lopez-Noriega, 2011).…”

“…Portugal was one of the first European countries to adopt maize and one of the few where historical maize populations can still be found under cultivation (Vaz Patto et al, 2013). The resilience of these maize populations in the Portuguese scenario can be partially explained by their technological quality in maize bread production (Vaz Patto et al, 2013). The Portuguese ethnic maize-based bread, named broa, is highly accepted for its distinctive sensory characteristics (Carbas et al, 2016).…”

Maize participatory breeding in Portugal: Comparison of farmer's and breeder's on‐farm selection

“…The last cycle of both selection methods maintained the ability for polycropping systems and quality for bread production according to Vaz Patto et al. (, ). Nevertheless, particular phenotypic traits evolved in opposite directions between the two selection methods.…”

“…The same sequence was conducted until the third cycle C3(S2) was completed (Mendes Moreira et al., ). Both methods emphasized selection for yield, pest and disease reaction and indirectly quality for maize bread (Vaz Patto et al., , ).…”