Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
such as plot yield and protein are measured. Satellite trials have no restric-
tions on the number of populations or their consistency from one year to
the next, which gives farmers much more fl exibility in deciding which
populations to try, keep and discard. These satellite trials do not collect
quantitative data, but farmers record visual scores at key stages during
plant development (winter survival and early spring vigor, heading time,
and maturity). Farmers also recorded these observations at the regional
platform trials during summer fi eld visits in 2011 and discuss the merits
of different populations and breeding objectives. Phenotypic observations
include traits of greatest interest to the farmers. Regional associations and
the RSP are responsible for the collection of farmer observations on satel-
lite and regional farms and for the coordination and facilitation of project
activities.
Collaborations with farmer-bakers will be used to assess quality for
artisanal breadmaking as soon as suffi cient grain is available. It is hoped
that this design will enable the network to use data collected on the re-
search platforms to assess the performance of populations on their farms
and to choose new populations or parents for crosses that will perform
well under each farmers' specifi c environmental conditions. The role of
regional associations and the national RSP must not be underestimated
in making this network of trials possible and in organizing fi eld days and
farm visits to encourage the exchange of ideas and selected populations
among participants.
11.5 CONCLUSIONS
While farmers may always base their selection, appropriately, on their
knowledge of the workings of specific organic agricultural systems and
their intuitive assessment of plant global performance on their farms,
scientific analysis may be useful for documenting these populations and
showing the effectiveness of farmer selection for the conservation and
improvement of cultivated populations. A combined approach of evolu-
tion under natural selection and directed farmer selection within evolv-
ing populations may be useful in developing varieties adapted to organic
systems [10]. In fact, certain traits may not be favored by natural selection
