Participatory varietal selection takes into account poor farmers' realities. Validated RNRRS Output.
Abstract
This is one of 280 summaries describing key outputs from the projects run by DFID's 10-year Renewable Natural Resources Research Strategy (RNRRS) programmes.
Associated with Projects R6748, R6826, R7323, R7281, R7324, R7409, R7542, R8099, R8221, R8269. 'Participatory varietal selection' is a four-step approach that offers farmers a choice of crop varieties matched to their needs. It arose from the realisation that farmers weren't using varieties developed and tested on research stations because they didn't work in the real world. So farmers continued to grow old, unproductive varieties prone to pests and diseases. The approach has been proven—and refined to become even more client-oriented—in Ghana, Bangladesh, India and Nepal for rice, wheat, mungbean, horsegram, maize, chickpea, finger millet and sorghum. Improvements in quality and yield have been startling. The potential for participatory varietal selection is huge as it could be applied to all farming systems, all major crops, all types of farmers, and all countries.
The CD has the following information for this output: Description, Validation, Current Situation, Current Promotion, Impacts On Poverty, Environmental Impact. Attached PDF (22 pp.) taken from the CD.
Citation
PSP33, New technologies, new processes, new policies: tried-and-tested and ready-to-use results from DFID-funded research, Research Into Use Programme, Aylesford, Kent, UK, ISBN 978-0-9552595-6-2, p 41.