Rainfed rice - IRRI books - International Rice Research Institute

Farmers’ Participatory Plant Breeding
Eastern India FPB project
Active participation of users in the process of technology development is vital
to achieve results that will benefit the poor. Scientists from the international
agricultural research centers (IARCs), national agricultural research systems
(NARS) and NGOs therefore got together and started consultations regarding
such issues. This led to the launching of a “system-wide initiative” on
participatory plant breeding, involving several Consultative Group on
International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) centers, NARS and NGOs.
Eastern India truly represents rainfed rice ecosystems and the International
Rice Research Institute (IRRI) thus decided to work with four different
research institutions, each representing unique rainfed rice sub-ecosystems of
eastern India.
Agenda for Eastern India FPB
Socio-economic issues
Germplasm development and the delivery process through indigenous and
formal systems in the target region.
Documentation and stratification of bio-physical and socio-economic
environments for FPB approaches.
Identification and characterisation of genetic materials for testing.
Methodological issues
Determine appropriate experimental design, develop necessary biometrical
tools and data collection, analysis and interpretation.
Determine effect of decentralisation separately from that of farmers’
participation in breeding efficiency.
Define and test protocols for farmers’ participation (stage and degree of
involvement) and skills for selection.
Institutional/policy issues
Avenue for professionalisation of FPB by adopting innovative curriculum in
university programs.
Policy support for FPB, decentralised seed certification and multiplication
strategies, property rights and research management.
Objectives of eastern India FPB project
A plant breeding component to develop and evaluate a methodology for participatory
improvement of rice for heterogeneous environments and to produce breeding materials
suiting farmers’ needs.
A social science component to analyse production systems and highlight farmers’
selection criteria. These elements are then integrated with field results to understand
the bases for farmers’ varietal decisions.
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