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considered “women’s” crops, and high‐yielding varieties are considered “men’s” crops (Badstue et al.
2007).
To the extent that high‐yielding varieties are grown for cash and local varieties for food, this gendervariety
pattern may persist. However, as high‐yielding varieties that meet the consumption preferences
of smallholder farmers are developed, the distinctions between subsistence and cash varieties may
become blurred. For instance, both hybrid maize and local maize can be viewed as either subsistence or
cash crops, depending on a farmer’s circumstances and market opportunities.
Capacity building
Increasing the effectiveness of breeding and seed production in high‐potential environments will require
close partnership with highly‐skilled national and regional scientists and seed producers. Training of
NARS and private‐sector breeders and seed production managers from target regions in the breeding
programs of CIMMYT, IITA, and leading NARS and private seed companies, through intensive short
courses and longer‐term work placements, graduate training, and post‐graduate study periods, will be
the principal capacity‐building activities of SI 5. Substantial investments in breeder training course
development and in seed business management training have already been made in several CIMMYT
and IITA projects—notably DTMA—and will be made more broadly relevant and accessible in SI 5.
Training materials, including highly detailed videos describing conventional and novel seed production
techniques, will be made available via the SI 5 website and will be posted to widely‐used internet video
file‐sharing services. Training on breeding program information management will be conducted in
collaboration with SI 4, SI 9, and the Integrated Breeding Platform of the Generation Challenge Program.
References
Badstue et al. 2007. The Dynamics of Farmers’ Maize Seed Supply Practices in the Central Valleys of Oaxaca, Mexico. World
Development 35: 1579–159.3
Castleberry, R.M., Crum, C.W. and Krull F. 1984. Genetic yield improvement of U.S. maize cultivars under varying fertility and
climatic environments. Crop Science 24: 33–36.
Duvick D.N. and Cassman, K.G.. 1999. Post‐Green Revolution trends of temperate maize in the North‐Central United States.
Crop Science 39: 1622–1630.
Eathington, S.R., T.M. Crosbie, M.D. Edwards, R.S. Reiter, and J.K. Bull. 2007. Molecular markers in a commercial breeding
program. Crop Sci. 47:s154–s163.
Heffner, E.L., Sorrels, M.E. and Jannink, J.L. 2009. Genomic selection for crop improvement. Crop Science 49: 1–12.
Lee, E.A. and Tollenaar, M. 2007. Physiological basis of successful breeding strategies for maize grain yield. Crop Science, 47:
S202–S215.
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