Participatory Approaches in Organic Crop Breeding
Summary
Participatory approaches in organic crop breeding unite scientific expertise and farmer knowledge to develop varieties tailored to the complex conditions of organic systems. By engaging farmers, breeders and other stakeholders throughout the breeding cycle—from germplasm selection to on-farm evaluation—these methods foster locally adapted cultivars, enhance genetic diversity and reinforce seed sovereignty. Key features include on-farm trials under organic management, iterative feedback loops between researchers and end-users, and collective decision-making on breeding goals. Such collaborations accelerate adoption of novel populations and landraces by ensuring that breeding objectives align with farmers’ agronomic priorities, regional climates and socio-economic contexts. The result is more resilient cropping systems, diversified seed networks and strengthened rural livelihoods.
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Participatory Approaches in Organic Crop Breeding publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in participatory approaches in organic crop breeding across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Participatory plant breeding: Collaborative process that integrates farmers and researchers in all steps of crop improvement to ensure adaptation to local organic conditions.
Genetic diversity: Variation in the genetic composition of crop populations that underpins resilience to environmental stresses and supports agroecosystem stability.
On-farm selection: Evaluation and choice of crop genotypes directly within farmers’ fields under organic management to match local conditions.
Community seed bank: Locally managed repository of diverse germplasm maintained by stakeholder groups to preserve and share adapted crop varieties.
Seed sovereignty: Farmers’ right to access, exchange and use seeds of their choice, integral to participatory breeding and agrobiodiversity conservation.
References
- Exploring the emergence of participatory plant breeding in countries of the Global North – a review. The Journal of Agricultural Science (2021).
- Genetic Diversity and Stability of Performance of Wheat Population Varieties Developed by Participatory Breeding. Sustainability (2020).
- Embedding Cultivated Diversity in Society for Agro-Ecological Transition. Sustainability (2020).
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