Rainfed rice - IRRI books - International Rice Research Institute

Farmers’ Participatory
Plant Breeding
M
any improved varieties are not popular due to their lack of
stability under unfavourable conditions. On the other hand, local
varieties are known to have desirable characters of stability for grain
yield even under variable factors.
Breeders may, therefore, have failed in
their efforts to respond to some of the
problems in rainfed ecosystems,
leading to slow and restricted
adoption of new varieties. This may
be because of certain factors in the
approaches of conventional or
institutional plant breeding programs.
The question of why modern varieties
are so poorly adapted to rainfed risk-
prone ecosystems can be viewed from
two angles: accessibility and
adoptability.
Accessibility
Although improved varieties are
considered good, the poor delivery
process in centralised systems
prevents farmers from having easy
access to them. In some cases, farmers
have adopted new varieties, e.g.,
Mahsuri, before they are officially
released. This shows that, if a variety
is good, farmers will get hold of it, not
necessarily by official channels.
For this, a more systematic study is
required to confirm what changes at
institutional and policy levels are
needed to improve farmer access to
good seed materials (Figure 1).
Conventional/institutional
plant breeding
Problem conceived and strategy
formulated by breeders
Universal concept of breeding
objectives:
• High yield
• Improved resistance
• Improved quality
Selection and testing under controlled
conditions
Released for cultivation by farmers
Most suited for favourable
environments while adaptability is low
under uncertain rainfed heterogeneous
environments.
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