Participatory Plant Breeding Concept And Applications

Plant breeding has played a significant role in the development of human civilizations. Conventional plant breeding has significantly improved crop yield by genetically manipulating agronomically important traits. However, it has often been criticized for ignoring indigenous germplasm, failing to address the needs of the marginal and the poor farmers, and emphasizing selection for broad instead of local adaptation. Participatory plant breeding (PPB) is the process by which the producers and other stakeholders are actively involved in a plant-breeding programme, with opportunities to make decisions throughout. The Working Group on Participatory Plant Breeding (PPBwg) was established in 1996 under the framework of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). Research in PPB can promote informed participation and trust in research among consumers and producers, and in recent years, PPB has had a significant impact on food production by quickly and cost-effectively producing improved crop varieties. At the same time, there has been significant research in the area. PPB offers significant advantages that are particularly relevant to developing countries where large investments in plant breeding have not led to increased production, especially in the marginal environments. In addition to the economic benefits, participatory research has a number of psychological, moral, and ethical benefits, which are the consequence of a progressive empowerment of the farming communities. PPB can empower groups such as women or less well-off farmers that are traditionally left out of the development process. This book explores the potential of PPB in the coming decades. The topic is more relevant since international breeding efforts for major crops are aimed at decentralizing local breeding methods to better incorporate the perspective of end users into the varietal development process. The first book incorporating the upcoming research on this novel breeding approach, it reviews the important tools and applications of PPB in an easy-to-read, succinct format, with illustrations to clarify these complex topics. It provides readers with a basic idea of participatory plant breeding as well as advances in the field and insights into the future to facilitate the successful integration of farmers into breeding programmes. This book is a valuable reference resource for agriculturists, agricultural advisers, policy makers, NGOs, post-doctoral students and scientists in agriculture, horticulture, forestry and botany.

Experts discuss the challenges faced in agrobiodiversity and conservation, integrating disciplines that range from plant and biological sciences to economics and political science. Wide-ranging environmental phenomena—including climate change, extreme weather events, and soil and water availability—combine with such socioeconomic factors as food policies, dietary preferences, and market forces to affect agriculture and food production systems on local, national, and global scales. The increasing simplification of food systems, the continuing decline of plant species, and the ongoing spread of pests and disease threaten biodiversity in agriculture as well as the sustainability of food resources. Complicating the situation further, the multiple systems involved—cultural, economic, environmental, institutional, and technological—are driven by human decision making, which is inevitably informed by diverse knowledge systems. The interactions and linkages that emerge necessitate an integrated assessment if we are to make progress toward sustainable agriculture and food systems. This volume in the Strüngmann Forum Reports series offers insights into the challenges faced in agrobiodiversity and sustainability and proposes an integrative framework to guide future research, scholarship, policy, and practice. The contributors offer perspectives from a range of disciplines, including plant and biological sciences, food systems and nutrition, ecology, economics, plant and animal breeding, anthropology, political science, geography, law, and sociology. Topics covered include evolutionary ecology, food and human health, the governance of agrobiodiversity, and the interactions between agrobiodiversity and climate and demographic change.

Recent advances in next-generation sequencing-driven mass production of genomic data and various other integrated techniques have considerably broadened and deepened our understanding of living organisms' molecular systems. Because complex quantitative traits are difficult to select due to low heritability, conventional plant breeding relies on phenotypic selection and breeder experience, it takes longer to develop a new, improved variety. For association studies to identify DNA markers linked to these complex traits, genotyping chip arrays allow genotyping of thousands of markers in a short amount of time. Plant breeding consistency and predictability have improved thanks to advances in genomics. NGS technologies bring new tools and concepts that can enhance the precision and efficiency of plant breeding such as cost-effective, high throughput genotyping technologies for sustainable agriculture. These genotyping technologies will be lowering the time and cost of developing high-quality food crops that are stress-resistant while still having a high nutritional value. This Research Topic focuses on recent advancements in NGS-related technologies, mainly the development of cost-effective high-throughput genotyping platforms with a wide range of bioinformatics tools, and possible translational multi-omics applications in crop breeding programs for sustainable agriculture.

Introduction; Farmer participatory research and plant breeding; Needs assessment and priority setting; Biotechnology as a set of tools for formal and informal; Relevant products from biotechnology research; Implementation issues.