Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
and may require conscious selection to maintain landrace qualities which
is not provided if these varieties are conserved in genebanks.
The value of landraces lies in their history of farmer selection and
adaptation to diverse environmental conditions worldwide, their capac-
ity to continually evolve and their resilience to heterogeneous environ-
mental conditions. This creative process of variety development through
on-farm selection has largely been lost in industrialized agricultural sys-
tems. Collaborative plant breeding in developed countries, starting either
with existing landraces or with new populations developed from crosses
and farmer-selected variety mixtures can renew this process, reclaiming
the knowledge of selection and autonomy of seed production for farming
communities. This process of continual crop evolution is key to adapting
crops to changing climatic conditions and complex environmental stresses
which are present in organic and low-input environmental systems, both in
developed and developing countries.
On-farm selection by farmers who are also millers and bakers or who
work closely with them is also key to developing varieties that have
the right characteristics for high quality artisanal breads and regional
products.
On-farm selection is thus complementary to on-farm conservation, us-
ing the diversity within an existing farmer network to maintain and enhance
local adaptation and crop performance. While on-farm selection requires
a signifi cant commitment from farmers and researchers to be successful,
a relatively small group of dedicated farmers and researchers can serve a
broader public interest in conserving genetic diversity for important agri-
cultural species through selecting diverse populations across a wide range
of environments. These populations, while started by one farmer or the
research group, can then be tested and selected in many on-farm environ-
ments. The exchange of observations and ideas among participants in the
collaborative selection project within the RSP is very rich for both farmers
and scientists, highlighting the value of a network approach to plant breed-
ing, rather than an approach were all communication is between individual
farmers and the research institution. Because the project was started and
driven by farmers, it has far greater durability than a project tied to a par-
ticular grant or funding source. By working in this network we hope to
increase farmer autonomy in variety creation and to develop a sustainable
