Rainfed rice - IRRI books - International Rice Research Institute

RAINFED RICE A SOURCEBOOK OF BEST PRACTICES AND STRATEGIES IN EASTERN INDIA
Figure 1: Rainfed rice adoption problem tree: possible intervention points for farmer
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participatory breeding (FPB)
Search for alternative: socio-economic
concerns
Rate of growth in favourable environments
declining.
Large potentials of rainfed ecosystems
untapped.
Dwindling on-farm conservation of germplasm:
farmers losing interest.
Farmers' knowledge on genetic diversity, their
perceptions of plant type and traits not used.
Farm produce mostly being consumed, local
(society) preferences, taste, quality, by-products
utilisation matter more in choice of varieties.
Adoptability
Lack of adoptability, on the other
hand, directly or indirectly implies
that improved varieties are inferior
or have no comparative advantages
relative to traditional varieties. The
causes for this may be:
Inappropriate and/or poorly
defined selection criteria;
breeding methods not relevant to
selection criteria; and
breeding not conducted in an
environment representative of the
target, site, etc.
In this case, decentralisation and increasing participation of farmers in plant
breeding processes could substantially improve their efficiency.